No Need For Space Strife
by TheOmegaPhoenix
Summary: Incomplete Work. Will be finished someday. No guarentees when.
1. Ch 1 The Attack Heard All Around Jurai

Disclaimer!  
Don't own any of the charecters. They belong to their respective owners and what not. Concept of the Dracadian race ish mine though. Yay. Anyways, Im not perfect with everything history wise. The history of used her is kinda mine in some places, but not all fo it is mine. Its blended also a bit from Universe and Muyo, and with my freak creations. Yay.  
Last note is this story is similar to anything youve read or if theres like mind boggling similarities to other fanfictions, its coincidental. I kinda am limited on time to read every fanfiction around, and well if its really similar, sorry! Not meaning to bite off of you or anything. This is just some idea that swam casually into my head. Pardon mispellings as well, because I was either not sure or mistyped.

Oh yeah, in the story, they talk aloud, telepathy, their thoughts, and something under their breath. Kinda a lot but yeah.  
"" talking ( ) Their thoughts or under their breath Telepathy

Lastly, this is my first posted fan-fiction. So please, read through it all before commenting. Also please be gentle with the flames. I don't think my fragile mind could take it sob

Alrighty, lets Get Crackin'.

No Need for Space Strife By: ME! KaiserWolf

Ch.1 - The Attack Heard All Around Jurai

"Something is Amiss. I must get to the Dock" rushed a somewhat panicked emperor of Jurai. "We must make good use of the treaty. Hurry before we are to late."

"Bu-bu-bu-but Azusa, honey, Im not done yet" pleaded Misaki, Azusa's spouse. Azusa, emperor of Jurai, was in a bit of a panic. Oblivious to Misaki, bad tidings were taking place, and he was aware of it. A transport vehicle pulled up in front of the palace and Azusa hurried Misaki inside and told the driver to step on it to the royal dock. As he left the palace, he looked out a window behind him to see if anyone was following. Nothing out of the ordinary, but he sensed it.

Azusa was considered to be the most powerful Jurain in all of Jurai. Politically, economically, and even in physical strength and stature, but he was far from invincible. It disturbed him when he became aware that there were so many corrupted high ranking officials plotting against him. So many that very few could be trusted, and not enough to sufficiently protect him and his family. He was tempted to send word to his daughters, who spent a lot of their time on a small primitive planet out in space, but feared their safety if he made it known to the traitors of their where abouts. He glanced out the window again. Still nothing. He didnt know what it was, but there was a gut feeling, or perhaps some higher power giving him a warning he did not understand, but there was a problem. And he knew something was going to happen that very day. Unfortunately for him, he was right.

The ride was comfortable, and It almost seemed that they would make it to the emperors space dock, where his royal ship waited for him day and night. It was just in sight when it happened. A hissing knows and an object streaked across the drivers view.

"Huh.." muttered the driver. He realized to late what it was. An inferno devoured the front half of the transport, and it began to fall rapidly to the planets surface. A second hiss and another streak of white smoke darted for the falling remains of the transport. Another explosion of fire and smoke erupted from the back half of the transport. Civilians and bystanders fled from the falling wreckage. It hit the pavement of the streets and sidewalks below with a crunch as the metal and remains of the transport contorted and snapped to and fro from the impact.

Some of the Jurain civilians rushed to the transport to see if anyone could be redeemed from the burning wreckage of the once accommodating transport. A badly hurt emperor and wife were dragged from it, still alive, but barely.

Within a few hours, the news had traveled across the planet. 'Assassination Attempt almost takes Emperor Azusa's Life' and such headings were played through out the communications. The people of Jurai were greatly troubled by this. Questions of why and how began to emerge. Panic and anger began to grip the people. After all, the Emperor was loved by his people, for the most part. But "They" were watching, and instead of being displeased at the failure, they decided to take a positive look at the situation.

"They failed," said one.

"Indeed they did. What are we to do now, Lord?" said another.

"They did not fail. In fact we can use this to our advantage. We still need it. The machine wont function unless we have it. We will turn the Jurains against them! And with the Emperor in such a weak state, we wont have much resistance. It's almost to good to be true! And when we wipe them out, we can finish off the King!" laughed 'Lord'.

"Lord! A Dracadian spy was seen fleeing from the command! He have heard everything! What do we do?" said a panicked official.

"Don't be so stupid. After him, destroys his ship and scatter his remains among the stars." barked 'Lord'

"Ye-yes my lord, right away" replied the panicked official. "Dispatch Kiyo and her crew immediatly."

"Nothing will stand in our way, NOTHING." 'Lord' proclaimed.

A red spacecraft shot out from the orbital station over Jurai at full speed. Soon following was a small Jurain ship. There was a flash of light in the distance and both ships disappeared among the vastness of space. 


	2. Ch 2 No need For Crash Landings

Ch.2 - No need for Crash landings.

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawn was the long drawn out and often made sound of the young GP detective by the name of Mihoshi. She sat slumped over in her chair of the Yagami, a red Galactic Police Cruiser, and a tough one at that. She stared, half awake half asleep, at the council in front of her. Her eyes began to droop, slowly at first, she blinked a few times to wake herself up, but it was no use. She was going pass out.

"Wake up you idiot! Cant you stay awake atleast for more then 3 hours without falling asleep." Bellowed her comrade in the seat next to her. A green haired woman, same age as Mihoshi, glared at her. "Is it so much to ask for you to actually stay up and do your job. Sheesh..."

"But Kiyone! Im tired, and hungry too. We've been doing this for ages" replied a sleepy Mihoshi as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. " I haven't eatin' anything in a while too..."

"You ate a snack an hour ago (which was more like a lunch or dinner...)" Kiyone muttered under her breath. "Listen, just deal with it. Were supposed to be patrolling and keeping our eyes out for..."

"Hey Kiyone, whats that?" Mihoshi said pointing to the speck of light off in the distance that was fast approaching.

"Huh..." Kiyone acknowledged as she squinted to see if she could see it any better. "What the...!"

A damaged ship, slightly smaller then the Yagami itself, roared by, barely missing the ship. Gas and other parts were "leaking" from it heavily as it rush passed, not even taking the consideration of stopping or slowing down.

"What the he..!" Kiyone started, but never had the chance to finish as another ship, Jurain in build and larger then the Yagami collided with it and kept on going. The impact through Misoshi out of her chair hitting the control panal. The Jurain ship clipped the left booster causing a leak and electrical damage, which wouldnt have been a huge problem, that is if Mihoshi hadnt accidently fired the boosters. A small "zzz" noise and a grinding of metal could be heard prior to the explostion, which ruined the booster completely. The Yagami rattled and listed lightly to the damaged side. Kiyone knew that Mihoshi had done it again, because she was still safely buckled into her chair, unlike Mihoshi.

"...mi-ho-SHI..." Screamed Kiyone.

"Wah! Wait a second Kiyone, it was an accident! Honest!" Mihoshi replied half crying and whining.

"ITS ALWAYS AN ACCIDENT WITH YOU!" Kiyone screamed back at her and clenching her fist in rage.

It was a pefect day. It was sunny and no clouds dotted the sky, yet there was a light cool breeze to keep everything moderate. It was mid July. The trees and grass were deep emerald green, and a quiet and relaxing feeling was hovering about the serenity. A boy, or man, how ever you look at it, about 17 years of age, with black hair and a small ponytail, accompanied by soft brown kind eyes surveyed the land. He was pleased. Then he heaved his hoe into the air and went to work. He was tending a small bit of land, growing vegetables. Carrots in particular.

"Ahhh" He let out a long sigh. "Todays a perfect day, nothing can ruin it."

"Tenchi!" cried a voice in the distance. A small girl about 10 or so, give or take a few years, with long blue hair set up in duel ponytails and pink eyes, was calling out to the boy, or man, however you looked at it. "Lunch is ready!"

"Ah, alright! Ill be right there." Tenchi buried his Hoe deep into the soil and walked slowly back to his house. He lived in a two story house, accompanied by his father and grandfather, near their family shrine. His grandfather mainly stayed at the shrine but came down to enjoy Sasami's meals. Sasami was the young girl who called out to Tenchi. She is one of the 4 main boarders that stay at Tenchi's house for long spans of time. On top of the usual 4, there are two others who usually stop by often, are somewhat stranded in space in the Yagami at that moment. We will get to the other 3 in a moments time.

Tenchi looked up into the sky as he walked towards the house. "Perfect," he said to himself. Just then something caught his attention in the corner of his eyes. Bright flashes of light in the higher atmosphere. He turned around completely to see if he had been imaging it, but nothing was there except the sun. "Must be seeing things..."

Tenchi arrived at the house, and was greeted by Sasami, who was waiting for him diligently. Nobuyuki was already seated at the table with Tenchi's grandfather. Nobuyuki is Tenchi's father, and has somewhat of an infatuation with women, but is unlucky when it comes to picking ones up. He envies to a small extent Tenchi because of his predicament. Virtually every girl at the Masaki Residense, Tenchi's House that is, has a thing for him. That would be 5 ladies and one young girl. The two who are most obvious about their "affection" towards Tenchi would be Ryoko and Ayeka. Ayeka, who is Sasami's older sister, is a princess. But further more, she is an alien princess. But its not to far from the norm around Tenchi's house, as he himself is 1/4 alien, and all 6 of the girls that happen to stay at his house at one time or another are also Alien in decent. The other lady, Ryoko, is a space pirate, and happens to be head strong, as well as sly.

"We've been waiting for you" Sasami said helping Tenchi over to his place at the table. She then sat down her spot to. Another girl, or lady, pending how you look at it, sat at the talbe. She was a small girl with long ,"poofy" almost, red hair, who looked no more then 12 years old. But was quite older, and smarter. She was a genius to be exact.

"Hey Tenchi, I have something I just came up with. A new invention. Annnnnd, I need someone to try it out." the 'girl' stated with what seemed to be underscored with something more malicious in mind. "Care to help?"

"Ehhh, no thanks, Washu. Id rathe.." Tenchi began.

"Aw, Come on. Nothing will go wrong, I promise." Washu began to protest. Washu was a 20,000 year old scientist. And the smartest one of them all, or at least she says.

"Nothing go wrong? Hardly. Everything always goes wrong when it comes to you and your experiments and inventions. I am still wondering how Lord Tenchi wasn't hurt by your last 'Experiment'" replied Ayeka as she sat down in the seat closest to Tenchi. She brushed her purple hair out of her eyes and began to serve herself. She picked out a few select peices of the meat that were on the table and handed them to Tenchi with a smile. "Here you go, Lord Tenchi. The best for you"

"Er Thanks, Ayeka" Tenchi said somewhat feebly. Just then the cyan haired space pirate appeared behind Tenchi and through her arms around Tenchi.

"Grk" was all Tenchi could let out in surprise of Ryoko's action.

"Heeey Tenchi. Didja miss me?' She asked whispering to him. Tenchi looked over at her panicked almost. (Say the wrong thing and its going to be a bad day), he thought.

"Ryoko, get your hands off Lord Tenchi." Ayeka yelled, trying to pry Ryoko off Tenchi.

"Say Tenchi, lets go eat somewhere in peace and quiet, away from the noisy and boisterous distractions here." Ryoko said in a semi seductive tone. " I know the perfect spot for just the two of us"

"You let go of Lord Tenchi! Don't you have any table manners?" Ayeka shot at Ryoko.

"Me? Your asking if I have table manners when you're the slob spilling your dinner all over the table" Ryoko said, finally loosening her grip on Tenchi.

"...he-hey know you two...come on..." Stammered Tenchi, but his words were falling on deaf ears.

"Oh hear we go again..." said Washu as she continued to munch on a pickle she had been eating with her meal.

"Slob? Who are you calling a slob you uncouth cow!" Ayeka retorted.  
"Im calling you one a slob, slob!" Ryoko shot back. They were face to face and full of anger.

"Why you..." Ayeka began to say as little logs began appearing about her. This was one of her powers. And it wasn't something to take lightly. Ryoko toed the mark by charging a small ball of energy in her hands.

(So much for my perfect day), Tenchi said under his breath, preparing for the worst. Fortunately, in one sense, the fight never came. Before Ryoko and Ayeka could duke it out, there came a slight distant whistle.

"Hey you two, wait a sec" Sasami said raising her voice to new levels of loud for her. She almost never used any voice louder then what she usually talked at. So when she did, it got peoples attention pretty quickly. "Whats that noise?"

"What noise?" Ryoko asked in somewhat of a angry voice that her squabble with Ayeka was cut short.

"That low whistling noise. Cant you hear it?" she said looking around. There was dead silence as everyone tried to listen in on it.

"I can hear it too... I think its coming from outside, though" Washu finally said, breaking the silence. Tenchi and his entourage traveled outside to find out where the noise was coming from. It gently grew louder and changing from a whistle to more of a scream. "Sounds mechanical almost... Wonder where its coming from."

Grandpa looked about until he saw it. He quickly rushed forward and grabbing and pushing everyone to the ground. The whistle changed rapidly from its distant quiet noise to a roar as everyone finally noticed the red low flying space craft charge directly over head fo them, barely missing the roof of Tenchi's house. Debris was falling from the ship. The reverberation from the ship flying so low and so fast over the house caused some of the windows to break, causing glass to fly everywhere. As soon as it came it was gone. The whistle dissipated in the hills behind the house. But it was not all quiet for long, for there was a loud rumble, followed by a violent explosion. The local wildlife fluttered and scattered. Smoke began to billow over the crest of the hill. Everyone was wide eyed in shock. Grandpa got himself up from the ground and dusted himself off, then helped the rest up.

"What was that!" Sasami finally said

"I dunno, but it aint from around here." Ryoko said, still looking in the same direction the ship flew off in. "Im going to check it out."

"Ryoko wait..." was all Tenchi could say, but was to late as she already flew off in the direction that the explosion came from.

"Come on, Ill go get some gear from the lab and we can go explore. I don't want to go up there unprepared." Washu said signaling everyone else to follow her.

Within a few minutes, everyone was ready to go, and set out for the explosion site. It did not take to long for them to really see the crash site. A long path of trees torn and splintered from the ship lead a trail straight to the backside of the heavily damaged space craft, but it was a long trail, about a half miles worth of walking.

Meanwhile, Ryoko was already at the ship snooping around it. She surveyed the damage.

(Looks like you've been through a lot... Hm?) Ryoko said. She bent down to closer inspect the ships exterior. It glinted. A small gash in the ship that was once there glowed a hot orange and then faded away. The gash was gone, as if no damage was sustained in the first place. (Woah, definitely not from around here. I've never seen a ship self repair itself in such a fashion...)

Ryoko got up and looked about. She walked about one side of the ship and noticed that a roof hatch was open. The ship had crashed at an angle, allowing Ryoko to easily fly up a little and peer inside the hatch. Lights flickered and she could see wires hanging down inside. She slowly glided back down to the ground and looked about the it for any signs of a survivor's escape. There was a trail of liquid, bright red in color, leading off into the forest. She bent down next to it. It was hot. She was perplexed by this and decided to follow the blood trail. She didnt get to far into the forest until she was stopped. A low hanging branch seemed to spontaneously explode near her. She shielded her self for a moment before hearing a hurried rustle and barely catching a glimpse of something hurrying away in the trees. She glanced over at the tree branch. It was burning intensely. She then turned back to where she saw the figure run off to and decided to give chase.

Everyone eventually reached the crash site. Ayeka and Sasami looked about the wreckage, somewhat awstruck at it. Nobuyuki just surveyed the damaged land. Tenchi was busy looking around as well. Washu had went inside the ship, which wasnt smoldering as much any more and didnt look as damaged as it seemed when it was flying over head earlier.

Washu stuck her head out of the hatch and looked down at the ground where Tenchi was standing near. She noticed the blood trail as well and hopped down. She pulled out a small device, which looked kind of like a syringe, only mechanical. She stuck it in the small pool of blood and retrieved a sample.

"Hmmm" Washu pondered as it was analyzed and the results displayed back to her.

"What's that there, Washu?" Tenchi asked, noticing the syringe like device.

"It's a liquid tester, to speak bluntly. It tests the nature of liquid, what it could be and its possible origins." Said Washu. "In this case, that red goo on the ground is blood. And it happens to be Dracadian of origin. Doesnt tell me which breed though..."

"Breed?" Tenchi enquired, but didnt get an answer from Washu.

Ryoko, where are you? Washu telepathically sent out to Ryoko.

Im following what ever just crashed down. Evasive little... Ryoko sent back with an annoyed tone. I've got it heading towards a small cliff, where it will be trapped. Hurry up already and get here. Hes been shooting at me for the last few minutes. Not that Id generally mind, but It seems what ever he hits gets burnt to a crisp.

I see. Washu thought back. We'll be there in a moments time

"Ryokos been herding it towards a small cliff near here. I dunno the land lay out by heart, and wasnt thinking to deeply about bringing one of my holo-maps. You know where shes refering to?" Washu asked Tenchi.

He knodded and pointed out into the trees. "Yeah, about a quarter mile that way."

"Good, lets go." Washu said hurrying off into the forest without hesitation. Tenchi followed close by, which in turn was followed by Ayeka and the others.

"Hold it right there!" Ryoko said to the wounded survivor. It appeared to be a boy about Tenchis age. Short Red hair, but longer then that of Tenchis, with deep crimson eyes. He turned to face Ryoko. In his left hand was a small side arm. His right hand was dangling down from him, dripping the glowing red blood, which seemed to sizzle as it hit the earth. He was cut along his forhead as well as blood was running down one side of his face. He stood leaning on his left leg, because his right leg was cut up. Apparently, the space suit which he wore wasnt efficient enough to protect him in crash landings. He grimaced at the pain surging through him at that moment. He was breathing heavily and looked like hed pass out at any moment, if it werent for his will power and the look of semi hysteria in his eyes.

"St-st-st-stay Back! Im warning you!" The boy said, raising his small gun and pointing it at Ryoko. "D-don't even try your teleporting skills. I pant have quick reflexes."

His gun was shaking though. "Im not going to give up. I must tell the Council. They must know. Your with them arent you?"

Ryoko didnt take to well to being threatened. She charged her beam saber. And went into a fighting stance. "Who are you talking about? Youve got some nerve to come here and ruin the peace, then start shooting at me not even knowing who I am."

"You ARE with them. One of them. Ill send you to your grave, Murderer!" And with that, he pulled the trigger. An energy beam of bright fiery red shot out from his hand gun at amazing speed and force. Ryoko was startled by the strength of the gun that she didnt evade. The beam of energy soared towards her and was about to devour her when it splashed against an energy barrier that was placed in front of her. She blinked a moment then snapped out of the initial shock.

"Ryoko, dear, you've got to be more careful." Washu said as she strolled up beside Ryoko. Tenchi walked up to the other side of Ryoko, while the others stayed farther back at Washu's command. " That hand gun of yours is packing serious heat, although you look like your in pretty poor condition, eh Dracadian?"

The Dracadian looked at her in puzzlement for a moment. "W-who are you? Are you with them too? You must be if your protecting her. Ill have to kill all of you... I-I-I-I'll have...to.." The Dracadian collapsed down onto the ground, he pushed himself up onto his knees in defiance of his fatigue and weakness.

Tenchi drew his master key out and ignited his Jurain beam saber. The Dracadian's eyes turned from fatigue to shock and anger in the blink of an eye.

"JURAIAN! You must be one of THEM. DIE!" cried the Dracadian as he raised his gun to fire again. But It did not discharge as planned. The gun jammed as the energy swelled up and back fired, blowing up in the Dracadians face. "Garrrr..."

He collapsed to the ground, completely knocked out from the backfire. Washu walked over to him and ran a small device near him. It made a few beeping noises and Washu put it back.

"Well heres the owner of that blood we found." Washu said. She summoned her computer and began rattling in information. Sasami walked up along with Ayeka. "Heh. It's a fire breed, no less."

"Is he ... dead?" Sasami asked with a bit of worry in her voice.

"Oh hardly." Washu replied as an energy bubble seemed to surround the young Dracadian. Within a moment, he was gone. All that remained were some of the blood stains on the ground. "Hes pretty close to it, but not dead. Dracadians are pretty resilient to death."

Washu dismissed her holographic computer and put some of her devices back in her small back pack that she was carrying with her.

"Well Im still hungry." Washu said as she started back the way they came.

Tenchi looked troubled. The words the stranger had yelled bothered him and wasn't sure what to think of it. He looked up into the flawless sky.

(So much for my perfect day), Tenchi thought to himself. 


	3. Ch 3 No Need For Hard Truths

Before I get to chapter 3, I got a say a few things. Back in ch.2, there was telepathy used between Ryoko and Washu at one point, but since I have to convert the text from the usual word program to notepad so I can upload it, It seems the brackets that I was going to use as telepathy sorta don't work on notepad. So now telepathy ish going to be written as regular text wiht the people having 'person x said telepathically' Something like that Hope those work.

Oh yeah, Im going to say somewhat screw it to reading through before commenting, because this may get long, so comment any time. (Getting anxious for what people think of this mess) and lastly Im going to probably finish this whole thing out whether or not people like it, simply because I might as well finish what I start.  
Oh yeah, if I don't give my charecter description for the Tenchi Charecters, its because I somewhat expect the reader to have a vague sense of who each charecter is what they look like. Sorry if this is an inconveniance.

Last note, this Ch. Is a bit lengthy. So bear in mind and please read through. If you skip it, the rest of the story might not make much sense.

Anyways, Onward Ho!

Ch. 3 - No Need For Hard Truths

The gentle sound of small computer fans whiring and vents expelling air along with with the occasional beep from a nearby console sifted through the seemingly endless room. Washu was sitting on a floating pillow near a table working diligently on a small piece of hardware she was throwing together for one of her machines. This was her laboratory which she worked in. It was a dimension that she created to house her experiments, inventions, and what ever else needed to be housed. It was could be linked to any door way or place which she so chose, but for the time being, she had it linked to a small closet underneath the stairs in Tenchi's house. From there, anyone could "walk" into her spacious lab at any time they so do choose. That is as long as the link was there between the two places.

"...Uh...uhhhh" came a low moan from a small capsule. The young dracadian was resting inside it. Wires and other gears where strapped to him to monitor his breathing and recovery, as well as aide him in healing faster. He opened his eyes slowly and winced at the pain of the bright lights assaulting his sight. It passed after a moments time, however, and rub his face with the palm of his hand.

" ..Ah.. Damn Im sore..." He mumbled. He began to start looking at his surroundings and came fully alert. He Tried to sit completely up by was restrained at the neck by some metal collar. He tried to remove it by force but it didn't budge.

"What the!" he said in surprise. He struggled with the collar some more.

"Ah. I see your finally awake," Washu said as she put down her equipment and got down from her pillow and walked over to him. "Feeling better?"

"W-what the Hell is this you sadistic woman? Some kind of prison!" shot the young Dracadian as he continued to free himself.

"Now thats no way to talk to a lady." Washu said, and her holo-computer popped up in front of her. She pushed a tiny button which sent a shock through the Dracadian.

"GEHHHH" He let out wiht his teeth gritted at the 'uncomfortable' feeling running through him.

"Now lets try this again shall we?" Said Washu with a smile. "Feeling better?"

"...I was..." said he said after letting out a sigh of relief that the sensation was gone. "Where am I?"

"We'll get to that in a moment, but how bout you tell me who you are and why you attacked us?" Washu said denying him of an answer to his question. "A Fire breed Dracadian, and at a relatively young age, is a bit far away from home. Even stranger is that war bird of yours. How'd you sneak it past the Meteor Belt Division?"

"How can I trust you?" questioned the young Dracadian. "How do I know your not with them?"

"Well, for starters, were taking care of you, not killing you. Since it seems they are probably after your life with the way you were shooting at us." Washu deduced. "That, and I always have this little button to press, which I can just extract your memories."

The young Dracadian grimaced at that thought, and then thought about what Washu said in the first place. It didnt seem like he had much choice anyways, since he was considered to be her captive.

"If I tell you, will you get this color off me?" the young one asked the ancient scientist.

"Oh that? Its not really keeping you in the capsule. Its just plugged into the back to help monitor your vitals and what not, though it is an electronic dog collar you could say. Keep you inline if you ever got free." Washu said. And with that she typed in something on her holo-computer and the wires and other devices detached themselves from the young Dracadian. He sat up, and got out of hte capsule.

"Eh?" said the young dracadian as he got down from the capsule. He realized he was wearing nothing but a pair of shorts, and small ones at that. "Grk! W-wheres my space suit!"

He blushed a shade of red that showed up on his face as he shyed away and tried to "cover" himself with his hands.

"Huh? Oh? Err sorry. We had to remove that old rag so we could inspect your wounds. Here." Washu said as she snapped her fingers. A bath robe appeared next to him. He put it on with haste and crossed his arms across his chest. The dracadian still realized he was wearing the metal collar and demanded it be removed. "Now now. Like I already said, its to keep you in line once your out of that capsule. I don't want you to shoot me or something in the back when Im not looking. Now, lets get down to business. Same questions. Care to answer now?"

The Dracadian sat down on the flower cross legged and pondered for a moment. Washu summoned over her floating pillow.

"My name is Zackalazeriath." He began

Washu looked at him with an expression of contempt. "Care to run that by me again? Quite a long name..."

"Eh, err just call me Zack for short. I come from Dracadia, as you've probably guessed. Im 17 years of age in Dracadian years. Fire born by descent." Zack continuted on.

"Hm nice to meet you, Zack. Im Washu, the greatest scientist in the whole universe" Washu boasted. "Your 17 dracadian years of age, so your what? Near 50 years old earth time? Interesting. Anyways, I already figured out your breed on my own (was kinda easy you know, heh heh..) So what were you doing on this side of the division with a war bird?"

"That war bird is the Zenith." he said indignantly. "(For a great scientist, I cant believe you didnt know that. Its painted on the side of it...) Anyways, I was sent as an emissary to Jurai. I was told that I was to talk with the emperor about trade agreements between our empire and the Juraian empire. I never had the chance to..."

"Why not?" Washu inquired.

"Because the emperor was critically wounded by an assassination attempt." the dracadian replied gravely.

Washu looked at him with disbelief. "Ah come on. Get out of here. Azusa hurt? Ha ha ha. It would take a miracle to even scratch him!"

"If you don't believe me, why not turn on the galactic news network and find out yourself."

Washu, determined not to be proven wrong, summoned a large screen and turned it on, tuning into the Galactic News Network, or GNN for short. "See, theres nothing wrong with him. Id known about it."

"If your in the alpha sector, beware of this small meteor shower, things could get rough..." droned some alien reviewing star maps.

"How long have I been out?" asked Zack, still sounding serious.

"Two days now." Washu replied, over confident now that he was wrong.

"Then just give it a second. Its still on the weather." Zack said, calm as can be.

"Thank you Gorgen for the weather. Now an update on the emperors condition. Juraian staff say the emperors condition is still critical, but he has stablized since the assassination attempt. As you recall, 4 days ago, the Emperors transport was shot down by Dracadian terrorists in an attempt to kill the Emperor. The first shot missed its mark but a second salvo was released, hitting the cabin of the transport. It fell nearly 30 stories before crashing into the pavement below. The emperor and Misaki survived the fall and explosion due to the emperor throwing up a force feild around himself and Misaki. Misaki is still in critical condition..."

Washu sat their shocked. But she was not alone. At that time, Ayeka and Sasami had entered the lab to invite Washu to have a bit of afternoon Tea with them, and they heard the whole news cast.

Zack snarled. "DAMN THEM. I knew they would do it, I was just to late."

The news broadcaster continued on. "In a recent turn of Events, since the emperor is in such a condition, Juraian high military command are taking over in his place and have declared a full scale war with the Dracadian Empire. Trade ships that were still within Juraian space were promptly captured or destroyed, as the Juraian fleet mobilized towards the Division early this morning. According to the high command, Jurai will 'Crush them for their impudence and their Treachery. They did this before and we were kind then, but now we wont let it happen twice.'..."

Zack was shocked, and angered. "We attacked them? What a load of..."

He never completed his sentence as a bolt of energy soared past, barely missing him. He rolled out of the way. "What the hell do you think your doing!"

"You scum! I cant believe I let Washu talk me into letting you stay here! We should have executed you when we had the chance, you space filth!" Ayeka bellowed as she charged another bolt of energy. "You tried to kill us all once, and now your damned race is at it again! You are probably the one who tried to murder our father! That would explain why your ship was so horribly damaged!"

"You got it all wrong! Im an emissary! He contacted us about enacting a section of the trade agreement!" Zack yelled back, dodging to and fro. He wasnt fast enough because one of Ayeka's energy bolts clipped him. His arm began to bleed from the small infliction. "Grar.. Damn that hurt! Listen you! I don't know who you are. All I know is you're a Juraian whos a tad bit pissed at our race. And you think that WE tried to kill you? It was YOU guys who were the malicious bastards who almost wiped our race completely out!"

"Don't try to lie to me, you filthy..." Ayeka stated. Her voice was full of anger. "All you Dracadian's are nothing but demons! Ill purge this universe of you!"

She charged another bolt of energy.

"Damn, Im not going to stand here and die!" And with that, Zack entered a fighting stance and stuck out is good arm, as if summoning something. "Eh. What the? I cant summon it? Why?" He clenched his teeth. Ayeka was almost done charging the shot completely. Zack had no where to run, he was in a 'corner' with no place to run. He clenched up, and prepared himself for the onslaught.

"AYEKA. STOP." yelled Washu. She had a grim expression on her face. Ayeka broke free of her rage and looked over to Washu. She still had the expression of undying hate, but she lowered her hands and the energy bolt dissipated.

"Why should I stop? He's nothing but a lying vermin." Ayeka stated with rage in her voice.

"Theres no proof that him being an emissary is a lie. Further more, he is right Ayeka." Washu said. "He's right about who can be considered the murderers in space."

"What are you talking about, Washu?" Ayeka asked, still angry and tense. Sasami was drying her eyes. She had been crying from the news about her father. Zack relaxed a bit and slumped down against the pseudo wall. Ryoko and Tenchi, rushed into the lab as well, fearing the worse from all the commotion Ayeka was making. "Just what are you talking about? They attacked us and raped our planets in our system without just cause. Killing millions of Juraians 6000 years ago."

"The story is a lie, Ayeka...All a lie. Jurai is ashamed of its past, but still bitter with the turn of events. Besides Ayeka, if he wasnt wearing that collar, you would have lost the fight. Theres a reason why it's a bold action for a Juraian to tangle with a Dracadian." Washu explained.

Ryoko and Tenchi stood there, a bit lost on what was happening. There was an awkward silence.

"Uhhh, whats going on?" Ryoko finally said, breaking the silence.

Washu filled her in on everything that just happened. Tenchi was taken back by the news of Emperor Azusa's assassination attempt, but thought things were a bit out of place. Ayeka still had the look of all out rage, but she tried to comfort Sasami, who was deeply troubled by the turn of events. After a few minutes of getting things together, and Washu bandaging up Zack, she walked over to the others.

"Its time you opened your eyes, Ayeka. To the truth. If you don't believe me, I have it documented." Washu finally said.

"The truth to what?" Ayeka said bitterly.

"The truth about Jurai's bloody past. The current cover story is that Jurai was attacked 6000 years ago by the Dracadian Race, with no reasonable cause. The Juraian's pushed back their assault, and being the kind people that Jurai is today, made a peace pact with them. But in fact, that is not what happened at all." Washu said. She dimmed the room an brought up a large screen that Ayeka and everyone else could see. Zack watched from the pseudo wall. His eyes seemed to flicker with light when the room dimmed. "6000 years ago, Jurai was on a conquest of domination in the Galaxy. Upon entering the Zeldat System, they discovered a race of beings who were still in their young age of space exploration. At first the Juraians were going to over look them and just conquer them. But things turned bloody. The race of beings, now known as the Dracadians, did not take to the liking of being conquered by some alien race. They fought back. Juraian's were shocked how they managed to repel the supposedly most powerful force in all the Galaxy. It seemed that the power of Dracadians, which stemmed from the soul of each living Dracadian, repelled and cancelled out the power which Juraian's stemmed from their Sentient Trees. Terrified by the simple fact that this race could oppose and crush the dreams, or in the case of the Dracadians point of view, a nightmare, of galactic conquest, they sought to eradicate the Dracadians completely."

Pictures of the Juraian Star ships controlling and conquering planet after planet all the way up to the confrontation in the Zeldat system. Zack seemed to bow his head in reverence when Washu mentioned the Dracadians there at the Zeldat System. Ayeka was speechless, along with most everyone else, save Washu of coarse.

"And so they started," Washu continued. "The Dracadians space combat vessels were primitive compared to the mighty battle ships the Juraian's had." Pictures of Juraian war ships wiping out waves of small meek looking ships covered the screen.

Washu continued with the narrative. "The Juraian's were very successful at first. They were also malicious as well. They went from planet to planet that was colonized by the Dracadians, and bombed it to ash. They sent down sweeper parties to irradicate any survivors. It did not matter if they were young or old, male of female, they killed them all. They were that determined to wipe out this threat. They also took to finding out as much as they could about this threat, so they could more efficiently kill them."

More pictures appeared on the screen. Juraian guardsmen and other soldiers standing over the pits of the dead Dracadians. One picture showed an execution in progress. Ayeka covered Sasami's eyes.

"She should have the right to see those pictures. Its her culture's history, you know." Zack said softly. Ayeka look at him with hate and disgust.

"Back to the topic matter," Washu said. "Dracadians are an elemental Race. That is to say, they are mainly composed of 4 elements. Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water. They also have what is considered to be a Shadow and Holy elements, but these are speculation of why they don't fall under normal circumstances. They derive their powers from themselves. This has the advantage that they don't need the Sentient Trees like Juraians do. This also makes their weapons work almost anywhere and with a higher 'strength'. Ryoko is kind of like one in the essence that she can summon beam weapons like they can, but she isn't attributed with an element as her powers are just raw energy. On top of this, they are virtually invincible to any attack of their attribute, and most anything can be classified under one of the 6. They are physically strong and resiliant to everything most bio and chemicals. A very hard race to kill by natural means, but the draw back is their counter can inflict immense pain and hurt them very easy. They are also only limited to attacks of their element. Juraians exploited these two key flaws and further expediting the process of wiping out Dracadians. Their extinction seemed immanent. Dracadians in last ditch effort with what little time they had poured every last bit of their resources into space weapons and research. Their space capabilities jumped ten fold. With the protype inventions of sub space jumping, stronger elemental weapons as well as being able to 'hard wire' Dracadians to their ships to give additional power to their attacks, they were able to repel and ruin the Juraian fleet. The performed a pincer attack that decimated the Juraian fleet. A total slaughter. It was like retribution. News Reached Jurai, and the officials fearing that they may come to wipe out Jurai decided to make an armistace with the Dracadians. In normal cases, they would have refused and probably come to destroy Jurai, but due to the fact that close to 85 of all the Dracadian race was wiped out, they could not afford the battle. An armistace was signed, and peace reigned. To some extent. Jurai, would eventually create a story claiming the Dracadians to be the aggressors, but the fact that Dracadians technology didnt become all that advanced until after that genocide. Juraian officials were still bitter, so thats the story that became known. Dracadians were the victims in this bout of Juraian history..."

Ayeka had the look of disbelief written across her face. Sasami was horrified by this hard truth.

"Y-you Lie, Washu!" Ayeka stammered finally.

"To what point and purpose would her lying be of any good?" Zack said, now standing off to one side of the monitor. "This is your history. This is my history. We Dracadians are not violent people by nature. We just pick up arms to when it comes to defending ourselves. Im going outside to get a bit of fresh air..."

Zack found the door and walked out into Tenchi's House. Tenchi and Ryoko thought it best to also take their leave for Ayeka and Sasami to come realize the cold truth. Washu turned off the large screen. And went out too. Ayeka sat there. She was confused and angered. Had something so profound been a lie. The hatred of that race had been taught to her by her teachers and mentors, but now it seemed like it was a lie.

(No, it cant be. They did so many horrible things... didnt they. I must find the truth.) Ayeka said finally rising to her feet. Her question would soon be answered, as a Juraian ship gently touched down outside the Masaki residence. 


	4. Ch 4 No Need For Assassins

Another Chapter! Hope the last one wasnt horrendous, though I think it was even long for me typing it. D: Hope this one is better and piques your interest.

Ch.4 - No Need For Assassins

The Juraian war ship gracefully touched down on the ground. Tenchi and the others stood there and watched it. With their newly acquired knowledge, this ship arriving seemed somewhat sinister, but in some fashion, it was a reassuring sight, taking account the recent events on Jurai. Zack stood back though, as far back from the ship as he could. A few people descended from the ship. They were hard to make out at first, but soon came to be 3 men and a woman. The woman seemed to be a high ranking Juraian official in their military, while the 3 men seemed to be just regular guards. She had long black hair that flowed to her waste line. She wasnt wearing any ceremonial wardrobe that were common among the officials, but instead wore a uniform. She walked in long stiff strides, but wore a kind look on her face.

"Is this the.. Masaki residence?" the woman asked in a light cheerful voice.

Tenchi walked forward to meet her. "Err yes it is. May I ask who you are?"

Ayeka had just walked outside as Tenchi said this. She looked still in a bit of shock, but somewhat relieved as well. (Finally, a Juraian from home. Sure she can clear up this misunderstanding.) She thought to herself. Sasami followed close behind her. The woman took notice of the too and quickly hurried over to them, forgetting completely about Tenchi's question.

"Oh my! The princesses are still alive. Thank the gods." Said the woman almost hysterically. The guards followed close to her. "We were worried back on Jurai about you. Everyone's worried, with the emperor in such a terrible state...Come back with us. We must get you back to Jurai."

"Ayeka, get away from them. They arent who you think they are." Zack said, anger on his face.

"What are you talking about? They're Juraian military." Ayeka said.

The woman gasped. " Your one of the assassins. Guards, seize him! You will pay for your horrendous actions!"

At her command, the guards approached Zack with alarming speed. He put himself in a fighting stance, as he wasnt going to be taken down without a fight.

"Now wait a second." came the voice of Washu. "You havent told us who you are. And now your going to arrest this Dracadian without any evidence to us that he's part of some assassination attempt on the Emperor. Not exactly how the Juraian military acts."

The guards froze, waiting on their order, she signaled for them to hold on a moment. "Im part of Jurai's High command. My name is Kiyo. I was sent to come pick up the two princesses and bring them back to Jurai for protection from scum like him."

"Don't listen to her. Shes one of them. Part of that conspiracy, or what ever it is." Zack told the others.

"Lady Ayeka, we do not have time for this. We must really get you back to Jurai." Kiyo insisted.

"Yeah. She wants to go now, so she can quietly execute you in space where you have no protection." Zack shot back, the guards still standing there who seemed to be losing their patiance.

"Don't be absurd. Were here to escort her back to Jurai." Kiyo retorted.

"Yeah, then why is there only 4 of you? Its easy to control the situation with less people." Zack stated.

Kiyo seemed to be losing her good mood. She was becoming more aggressive to get Ayeka on board with Sasami and leave, as well as capture Zack. Ayeka was trying to go along, but as time went on, Sasami and the others began to doubt Kiyo.

"Come on already, Lady Ayeka. We must leave. We may be ambushed by your enemies." Kiyo pleaded, but obviously not in a good mood.

"You ARE her enemy" Zack said.

Kiyo's face turned a deep red in anger. She was not in a happy mood that this Dracadian was putting her in. "Grrrr, Shut your trap, foul Dracadian!"

She waved her hand and a guard came up from behind Zack and struck him on the back of his head. He collapsed, as his hair began to ooze from blood. "What a weak Dracadian. Bleeding from a minor hit like that. He's all talk and no bite!"

"What'd you do that for? That wasnt necess..." Tenchi began but quickly silenced he felt the feel of a squarish barrel press against the side of his head. A guard had it pointing at him.

"TENCHI!" Ayeka cried in response. "Gyah..."

She had moved to assist Tenchi but was back handed hard from Kiyo and fell to the ground unconscience. Ryoko clenched her fists and was about to attack when Kiyo drew a 'gun' on her and addressed her. "Make a move, I dare you, space pirate! The second you do, and your beloved Tenchi will be dead! Don't think I havent noticed your affection. That annoying savage laying over there in the grass gave us a hard time finding his ship, and when we did, we monitored the situation closely. So I know all about your affection towards this Juraian half-breed."

"Why you..." Ryoko said her teeth gritted

"What was that, pirate? Care to repeat that? Hm? I didn't think so. Rizu, seize that brat Sasami so we can get out of here already. Rei, take Ayeka after you finished off the Dracadian." Kiyo instructed her guards. A larger guard walked up Sasami who stood there stricken with fear. He grinned sadistically, and raised his hand to strike Sasami.

"Graaaaaarrrrrrrrg." The large guard stopped in mid swing by the cry of agony. He looked over to see a taller and slimmer guard crumpled over and burning intensely. Panic struck him.

"Its not nice to hit a lady, you know." Came a voice from behind. The tall guard turned around almost by reflex only to be met with a long energy lance of fire, that impaled him. He let out a cry of pain which was soon drowned out by the roar of flames as they burst around him and enveloped him in a casing of fire. He toppled over dead.

"Why you!" Said the third guard who had been keeping Tenchi at gun point, took his aim off Tenchi to shoot the Dracadian standing over the burning remains of his comrades. This mistake lead to his downfall. Tenchi took action and knocked him over and drew his master key and ignited it, keeping its blade at the guards neck.

Zack turned to face the woman named Kiyo. She gave a loud sigh and looked at her guards with disgust.

"You know, its so hard to find good help these days. What a pathetic and worthless bunch of guards. I guess one must do the jobs themselves, these days." Kiyo said looking down upon her guards. She seemed to vanish then right before their eyes.

"What the? Where'd she go." Ryoko said with a hint of maliciousness and charging a sphere of energy in her palms. "Im going to teach that wench a lesson."

Her question was answered with a stray shot of energy. She gracefully dodged out of the way and turned to face the direction it came from expecting to see Kiyo. But she didnt see anything more then the trees. Another shot came, from behind, though this time targetting Washu. She threw up a force field to protect her self and the attack splashed off the shielding. Another shot came, and another. Repetetive fire that Washu was simply reflecting with her barrier that now encompassed everyone there.

Ryoko Stood there bitterly, trying to get a glimpse of Kiyo. Tenchi was also alert looking out for her next attack, but had gathered Ayeka and Sasami over to him, protecting them incase the shield should fail. Sasami tended to Ayeka in the mean while. Zack sat down and just observed, not even seeming worried. Washu, however had a worried expression.

"Not good... not good at all." Washu said.

"What is it?" Asked Tenchi in response.

"The attacks are breaking the shield some how. I don't how but its slowly weaking the shield by drawing energy from it. Every shot she shoots is only getting stronger at the expense of my shield. We don't have a whole lot of time before it collapses." Washu said typing furiously at her Holo-computer trying to figure the situation out. Tenchi stiffened up his stance and Ryoko waited. Zack didnt seem unphased.

"...Washu" Zack findally said.

"What?" she said without even looking away from her computer screen.

"Drop the barrier when I say so." Zack said calmly as he got to his feet.

"Say what! We'll get hit you know. Tenchi cant block all of it and..." Washu began but was cut off as Zack told her to drop the shields then. She thought it was a bad idea but he proved to be right about most everything so far. She dropped the shield, and a salvo of attacks came from all directions, aiming for every one standing there. Zack drew back and then thrust his palm into the ground with might. Pillars of fire burst out of the ground with ferocity and absorbed ever shot fired in the blaze. He drew back again and performed the same stance, but this time the pillars shot up among the trees, followed by a series of small explosions. A seemingly off mark burst of fire shot up behind them, nearer to the house. Kiyo collapsed from the hit, coughing hard from the impact and smoke from her semi charred uniform.

"That takes care of that" Zack said with confidence walking over to Kiyo while clapping off his hands of dust. Tenchi and Washu were a bit taken back from the display Zack provided.

"W-way to go, Zack," Tenchi finally said.

(Show off...) Ryoko mumbled under her breath.

Zack knelt down in front of Kiyo. He lifted her bowed head with his index fingers.

"Now. Care telling us everything." Zack said with a smile.

"..." Kiyo just Stared at him with anger in her eyes. "..how?"

"Im a little smarter then that to know what low tricks you might be up to. Placing mini turrets on the trees and disguising their energy signatures with an over all heat build up. Clever. But I can still see the heat sources." Zack said standing up and looking down at her. "As for those injuries, Washu locking off my powers weakened me somewhat. Easier to injure.Thank god she had the common sense to take it off when your back was turned."

"...damn you!" Kiyo said. And with that she vanished into thin air once more. Zack spun around, well aware of her treachery by now. She was off running fast towards the Juraian ship waiting there on stand by.

"Damn, she's going to escape!" Zack said chasing after her. Kiyo boarded the ship and began take off. But she would never get the chase to gain altitude, as of that moment, a blast of energy pierced the ship down the middle. The ship erupted in a ball of flame, but was still managing on gaining altitude. More shots rained down from the heavens, each maiming the Juraian ship. It finally buckled, listed to its left, and crashed down heavy in the earth. It burst into flames, and then at once, it splintered and blew apart. Kiyo flew into the air comically and landed among the trees.

Tenchi looked up to see the a damaged Yagami slowly descending down to them. It landed gently as it could, but swayed over onto its side and crashed with a loud thunk as earth and dust was kicked up. An elevator hatch opened up and an elevator lowered itself down with two ladies on it. Kiyone was standing with her hand on her hip with a look of anger, while Mihoshi was tied up and gagged.

When the elevator reached the ground, Kiyone dragged Mihoshi off of it and over to Tenchi. It seemed like Kiyone didnt even notice the burning wreckage of a Juraian fleet ship.

"Washu, can you do me a favor and invent a device that can make Mihoshi grow a brain?" Kiyone said with annoyance in her voice. "I also need to have the Yagami repaired. As you can see, one of the thrusters is ruined, thanks to this accident waiting to happen."

Kiyone pointed to Mihoshi who was struggling to get undone from her restraints. Tenchi Walked over and freed her. Mihoshi gasped deeply and stretched out on the grass. "Heh heh.. Im soooorrrry Kiyoonee, I didnt mean to. Honest!"

"Gah will you shut your trap for just one minute." Kiyone said cursing the heavens under her breath for getting such a problematic partner.

"I can fix the Yagami pretty easy. Just give me a day or so, and it will be as good as new. That is until Mihoshi gets back in it." Washu said.

"Gee, Im hungry..." Mihoshi said out of the blue.

"Ryoko, go fetch that lady in the woods. We have some questioning to do." Washu said. Ryoko mumbled something under her breath and disappeared. Washu typed something in on her holo-computer.

"I take it that you guys had a fight with the occupants of that ship..." Kiyone said surveying the scene. A bubble formed around the corpses, after which the bodies of the guards disappeared completely.

"I take it you had a brush up with them as well..." Washu said looking at what was left of the Juraian ship.

"They pulled a hit and run. I got into orbit witnessing the last part of your dispute with them." Kiyone replied.

"Yeah well, Ryoko went to get their leader, and theres still one guard left, whos busy tied up right there." Washu pointed to the last remaining guard.

"Waaaah, is she alright Sasami?" wailed Mihoshi from where Sasami was taking care of Ayeka. Washu walked over with Kiyone and inspected Ayeka.

"Uhh" Ayeka moaned. She regained conscience and rubbed her cheek where she got back handed from. She winced. "Ow.."

"Looks like a nasty cut you have there. She have a ring on when she hit you? Ah well, I can get some of my spray tonic and things will be alright." Washu said summoning up her holo-computer again and making a small flask that looked like an old fashioned perfume bottle appear out of thin air. She took it in hand. "This may sting a bit..."

Washu sprayed a small bit on Ayeka's cheek, she winced as her eyes began to tear up from the pain. Washu smiled and instructed Ayeka,"Now you go inside and put some ice on that and it will be fine in an hour. Like nothing happened."

Sasami and Mihoshi helped her to her feet and walked in with her. Even though it may have been the after shock of being back handed, Washu felt that Ayeka had a kind of vacant look to her eyes, like something just broke into a million pieces and couldn't be put back together.

"Hm?" Washu said finally looking up and about. "Hey Tenchi, whered Zack go?"

Tenchi finally noticed he was missing and shrugged his shoulders and looked around.

"Zack?" Kiyone inquired. "EH?"

"Err, hi there..." Zack said from behind a shrub. His white robe was that he had worn the whole time was now shreds of string hanging off his shoulders, burnt in some places and torn in others. Didn't provide any real covering for him. "Ehh Washu, could I get a better change of clothing? Um, that explosion, err I was kinda to close. Ruined the robe. Eh..heh...heh..Sorry"

Washu laughed. "Hey Tenchi, I think we have to get our new house guest a wardrobe. I don't think he'd fit to well into your clothing."

"Hey, what do you want me to do with her?" Ryoko said finally returning.

"Those look like...Those arent bruises from her falling are they, Ryoko?" Tenchi said looking at Kiyo sheepishly.

"Oh she did fall...(many times)..." Ryoko said giggling under her breath.

"Take her to the lab. We'll get some useful info out of her," Washu said with a sadistic look on her face. She laughed at the thought of sucking Kiyo's brain of its knowledge. "Lots of info."

With that, they walked inside, Tenchi tired, Kiyone bewildered and blushing slightly, Zack in a new white long robe, and Washu grinning from ear to ear. 


	5. Ch 5 No Need For A Plan

Well Time for the next chapter! Must Continue, keeping some constructive criticism in mind. :D Yayayayyayayyayaayyayay! Im happy, Someone said SomETHING. I feel so, so so, complete. Crys

Yep Yeps. This chapter is a bit late from schedule. I sorta wanted to get a chapter up and in every 2 days but work and school work piled on. I also have positive reviews now, so Im afraid of jacking this all up hahaha. AH well, the show must go on! Or something like that.

Ch.5 - No need for a Plan

Washu busied her self by typing away at her holo-computer, typing in mountains of information which she had 'aquired' from Kiyo. She reviewed space charts and ran simulations as to what may happen in the conflict, but she wasn't sure on what type of ships the Dracadians had. She needed some input from Zack, but he had went out with Mihoshi and Kiyone to get him some clothing. Kiyone only tagged along because she wanted to keep an eye out for Mihoshi, who had at some point in time, aquired a drivers license for the 3rd rock from the sun. She wasn't overly thrilled.

The closet door faded in, and as it opened from what was the middle of the room, the corner of the door hit a little crab shaped chime that made a dull wooden clanking sound.

"Hm. Who is it?" Washu said without even turning around to see who came to visit.

"I just stepped in to say Tea is ready." Tenchi said, half in, half out of the lab door. He feared that Washu may seize him again for another go at getting some samples from him.

"Huh? Oh, right. Ill be right there." Washu said, half distracted at the data in front of her.

(She really must be zoned in to her work), Tenchi thought as he became more bold and daring and decided to come in all the way, closing the door behind him. It faded away with a low humming sound. "What are you looking at, Ms. Washu?"

"Don't call me Ms." Washu said in an annoyed voice. "Anyways, Im just looking at the data I got from cleaning out that assassin's head. It seems Zack was right about her not being who she says she is..."

"I kinda figured that much when she attacked us..." Tenchi murmered.

"Well of coarse. But thats not what I meant." she said half irritated. "Of coarse we knew by then, but she isn't who she said she was."

"Well what do you mean." Tenchi asked. It was obvious he didnt see the data written out on the holo-computer's screen, but Washu didn't take this into account.

(Sometimes...), Washu muttered. " Well for starters, she isn't a high ranking official. Shes just some lowly grunt Assassin. Bottom of the barrel material, ya know? And it seems that the head honcho isnt a fool. Everythings considered classified and on a need to know basis. She was just issued orders and she complied. Pretty good moral if you think about it. That or good incentives, but Im not going to go into that..."

Tenchi looked over at Kiyo. She was in a capsule that was similar to the one Zack was in, but was different as she had a headband like device around her head and she was strapped down and asleep. (Probably drugged, knowing Washu...) He thought.

"I assume that everything over at Jurai is in the military's control. The Holy Council at this point is probably just a figure head incase anyone really gets and second thoughts about the military's control over the situation." Washu continued. " I've been running simulators to see possible outcomes on conflicts between Juraian forces and Dracadian forces. But its all so vague and incomplete. Truth be told, I never got much information about the Dracadian star ships. I never really bothered to look into it. All the info that I would need is stored at the Space Academy, but Im sort of not in the mischievous mood to hack in. Takes a lot of work you know, even for the greatest genius in the universe."

"I see. So then what's going to happen?" Tenchi asked.

"Well, best plan is to go to Jurai I think, but it's not the wisest. With it known that the military is in with the coup, it will be dangerous. Ayeka's ship, the Ryo-Oh would be the only ship that can successfully go to Jurai for the most part with the fewest stops at check points. But that being said, its likely we will get picked up and attacked if we do make the trip through Jurai space. Can't use Ryo-Oh-Ki because of Ryoko's nefarious record as the most evil space pirate around, so its guaranteed we will get stopped. I don't have any ships of my own anymore, (not since the Soja), and that only leaves the Yagami and Zack's Zenith. Best bet is the Yagami I think. Though Im worried about getting drafted."

"Drafted?" Tenchi asked. He really didnt know what was going on really. Only that people were out to hurt Ayeka and Sasami.

"Ayeeee, don't you know anything? Drafted, you know, to serve in the military. GP is with Jurai when it comes to issues like these. If we use the Yagami, most likely they will contact it and tell it to report back to prepare for the oncoming war. If the Yagami refuses, the ship can be seen as AWOL and then we will be in no better of a place then if we use Ryo-Oh-Ki. Im not sure about the Zenith and its capabilities, though."

"It's the most advanced ship in the Dracadian fleet, if thats what your curious about."

Washu turned to face Zack. He had just walked in. He tried to act cool as he stood there in his new clothing, but it was easy to see that he probably just had a heart attack. "Just the Dracadian I wanted to see. Hm. Have a safe trip with Mihoshi?"

"Urk," Zack almost doubled over from the memory. "Safe! I can see what Kiyone always is mad at her. She's about as safe as an Iron Maiden..."

It was apparent that the ride to the city was a precarious one. Mihoshi had the tendency, just like on the Yagami, to make everything go from bad to worse in leaps and bounds at times. Though she isn't always a complete dits. Kiyone had decided it would be best to drive back, even though she did not have a license herself.

"Nice outfit," Washu commented looking him up and down in a voice of sarcasm. He wore long black jeans and a pair of matching black and silver Tennis shoes. A white undershirt with a red long sleeved dress shirt covered his top. Nothing to fancy, but nothing to boring. "I see you have a thing for red and black."

Zack gave her a face. "Now what is it you wanted to know?"

"About your battle ships." Washu said bluntly. " Tell me all about them."

"Hm, well I dunno. Its not to complicated. There are basically 4 types. Phantoms, Sentinels, Wave, and Artillery ships." Zack started off. Washu motioned for him to continue on. " Err well, hm. To sum it up, The phantoms are the main attack force. And they vary for their roles. They have the best jump capabilities, and can, as of late, mimic their outward looks as Juraian ships, as well as mask their energy signatures to be the same way. It helps deceive Juraian ships, but has draw backs as when attacking, blaster energy is still that of Dracadian origin and also that the mimicry takes up quite a bit of power, so a ship cant jump or anything when its mimicking. Sentinels are the wave breakers. They are the slowest moving, but the most powerful and most defended. Their main purpose is to push the front line further and further and break enemy formations, as well as take the blunt of enemy fire providing cover for the Phantoms. Wave ships are simple ships that have are like carriers. They have smaller computerized ships that do their attacking and can perform other functions such as setting up communication links in the middle of battle and resupplying ships as well as repair damaged Sentinels if they have the supply to. Pretty nifty, if you think about it. And lastly, you have the artillery. Just as the name suggests, its mainly the heavy fire support that sits farther back in the fleet and picks up the bigger enemy ships. They have very far range and if fully linked up, frightening fire power." Zack said that last part almost bragging about the Dracadian power. Washu did not look thoroughly impressed though.

"What of your ship. What type is it?" Washu asked, as she sat back down on her floating pillow and began to run information again.

"The Zenith is a phantom. It has the best Jump and fire power capabilities, as its engines and reactors power it better then any other Phantom in the fleet. It's the only ship which can pull a small space jump while mimicked, though the distance is very limited and it can put heavy stress on the ship." Zack said, once again proud of his ship.

"Hm, I see. Ill have to run power diagnostics on it when I get the chance to." Washu said.

"Zack, do you have any idea who may be behind this or how we could get to Jurai?" Tenchi finally said speaking up.

"You want to go to Jurai too?" Zack said.

"Huh? Wait, you were going to go?" Tenchi asked.

"As soon as I could get the chance and get my ship repaired. I need to settle things now before this gets out of hand. War is bad for both our races." Zack said.

"I agree. But we haven't firgured out to get there, without being spotted." Washu said.

"Well I was going to use the Zenith. Just jump in to Jurai space as far as I can then use the mimic and just travel the rest of the way as a small Juraian merchant ship bound for Jurai." Zack said.

"You can mimic merchant ships?" Washu said, half surprised.

"Any Juraian ship, pretty much." Zack said, once again with a hint of bragging in his voice.

"Hm that settles it then. The Zenith will be the decoy while the Yagami is the main transport." Washu said, smiling at her own self indulged brilliance.

"Wait, what?" Zack said confused.

"Your ship is going to be a merchant ship, and it needs to be protected, so we can use the Yagami to escort your ship until we get close enough to Jurai. From which point, we find out what's happening and fix this crisis." Washu said with confidence.

"Bu-bu-bu" Zack begun.

"No buts. This is a perfect plan. Full proof." Washu said with confidence once more. The closet door faded in again and Ayeka stepped in. She was surprised to see Zack there, because she hadn't known he came back from his journey to the city.

"Oh...Hello Zack..." Ayeka began. She seemed mentally occupied with something. " Err, I just came to say that Tea is has been ready for a few minutes now, and we were wondering where Lord Tenchi went."

"Ah, I forgot about that." Washu exclaimed. She proceeded out of her lab through the closet door.

"Sorry about that, Ayeka. I guess I lost track of time talking with Washu and Zack." Tenchi said as he continued through the closet door. Zack began to follow suit, but Ayeka cut him off before he could reach the door.

"Hm?" Zack enquired with a facial expression as to what Ayeka wanted.

"I-I-I wanted to say..." She began to stammer, "...I wanted to say, that Im sorry. For yesterday."

Tenchi checked back through the closet door to see what was talking Zack and Ayeka so long when he heard her apology to Zack. He smiled warmly. He was happy that Ayeka gave Zack an apology, that it was very mature of her. He thought more highly of her from this as a result. He left back out as quietly as he had come without saying anything. (Ill do something nice for her, when I get the chance) he thought.

"Err, its all 'ight." Zack said. "Im sure you were just in a bit of shock and anger when you heard the news and you took it out on me kinda." Zack said. He gave a weak smile and walked out to join the others.

Ayeka stood there for a moment, and smiled to herself and continued through the closet door, back into Tenchi's house. The door shut by itself and the little crab chime clanked again as it did. The lab dimmed and all seemed peaceful. But all was not. The capsule that contained Kiyo was opened slightly and she was gone, though nothing sounded off. No alarms, or sirens. Something was amiss. 


	6. Ch 6 No Need For A Space Odyssey

Ho Hum. I think Ill put up CH.5 and 6 at hte same time. Make things move more smoothly, so that it doesnt get left off on bad notes or what not. Hope the last chapter didnt suck to much. A lot of explaining in htis fanfiction so far, but Its kinda important to some extent as it will make things clearer in the future, when I use names and describe situations, its easier if you already know the info. :D Thats my two cents. Another chapter coming up. Hope you enjoy :D

Ch.6 - No need for a Space Odyssey

"We're what!" Ayeka screamed in surprise

"Yay! A space trip!" Mihoshi said with excitement.

"Eh... Mihoshi..." Kiyone muttered as she held her face in her hand with disgust.

"We're going to travel to Jurai, via the Yagami. To make sure that it doesn't get drafted for war, Zack's ship will disguise itself as a Juraian Merchant ship. This way, with special documents that Ill 'get a hold of', we can pass through Checkpoints all the way up to Jurai itself. From their, we will find out who's running the show and stop them and this war." Washu said, finishing off her cup of Tea. "And the sooner we leave, the better. The Yagami is already fully repaired, and the Zenith will be ready in a few short hours. I suggest you all get packed tonight for the voyage. It will take maybe a week or so's time. Ill get the usual provisions and pack them onto the Yagami. We wont be taking along the house this time, however. I feel it is better that we leave it here, and Ill get something thrown together for the Hanger of the Yagami so we have living space."

"Hey Wait, when did I ever agree to this!" Kiyone protested, but it fell on deaf ears.

"Why can't we just use the Ryo-Oh to go back?" Sasami asked.

"Its tagged as a royal ship. With assassin's out to get you two, it wouldn't be wise to pass through the check points with that ship." Washu said in a matter of a fact voice. She was somewhat thrilled about going. Not only would she actually have some action and something to do, as for the longest time, things seemed quite peaceful at the Masaki residence.

"Do we all have to go?" Ryoko whined from the rafters. She was in a laying back relaxed and enjoying some sake instead of tea.

"Yes, we all have to go." an annoyed response came from below Ryoko. "Lord Yosho is going to stay here and look out after things with Nobuyuki. Having him along last time was not enjoyable..."

Washu grimaced at her own comment.

"Damn it, Ayeka. You're a royal pain in the ass, you know that. Its always this or that with you, isn't it?" Ryoko said bitterly. She poured herself another glass of sake and took it down in one gulp.

"Like I want this kind of attention!" Ayeka retorted. "Hmph" (Atleast I don't sit around and drink sake all day...)

"What'd you say?" Ryoko said with anger in her voice. "Your nothing more then a good for nothing princess who causes problems for the rest of us!"

"Oh yeah!" Ayeka raged. " Im not the one who got captured by Kagato and forced Tenchi to come rescue me! Which almost got him killed, need I remind you!"

"Why you.." Ryoko bared and gritted her teeth and anger. She charged her energy in her hands agian, and Ayeka stepped up to the line and summoned her 'logs'.

"Eh! Not again!" Tenchi bolted for the door to escape the situation. Zack sat their a bit confused about the situation.

Washu pulled out a small hand gun, pointed and shot both Ayeka and Ryoko. A dart pricked both and they both passed out on each other. "Geez, both these girls are a pain in the butt."

Sasami poured herself another cup of tea. "They never know when to quit..."

Tenchi sat himself down again at the table. Zack was a bit taken back by what just happened. "That a normal everyday thing?"

Tenchi and Sasami nodded. Washu got up and dragged Ryoko and Ayeka off. She came back a minute later and sat back down to her cup of tea.

"Where'd you take em?" Tenchi asked, now looking a bit worried.

"Oh, no place special. I just turned 'em both into kappa's and jammed them in the upstairs closet. They can sit up there for a while until they come to terms with each other. I mean geez, what a headache. I hope they get some sleep though, because they will need it." said Washu.

"I see..." Tenchi said unenthusiastically.

Washu got up from the table. "Well thanks for the tea, Sasami. It was good. I've got a lot of work ahead of me to get ready. I say we will probably leave tomarrow."

"What about Kiyo?" Zack asked before Washu left.

"Hm. Ill probably just freeze dry her or something, and turn her in after we settle things." Washu said, obviously not giving much thought to the matter. With that she walked into her lab via the closet door.

Tenchi bent down and began to help Sasami clean up the mess from the afternoon tea. Sasami busied herself in the kitchen cleaning the dishes and re-organizing things. It would only be an our or two before she would start on making the dinner. Zack sat there and finished off his cup of tea and put it by the sink for Sasami to take care of. He offered to help out in some fashion, but she turned down his offer, like she always did for everyone else.

The afternoon sun sifted through the windows and blinds, creating a warm haze that fell about the house. Mihoshi was napping on the sofa and Kiyone had went to Washu's lab to inspect the repairs on the Yagami. Tenchi was out in the fields getting everything cleaned up settled for the up and coming trip, while Ayeka and Ryoko were still trapped in the an upstairs closet as kappas.

Zack sat on the door step of the house and looked out over the water. A bug hovered over the water in the distance, and a fish jumped out and ate it. He sighed.

"Its like the calm before the storm. So peaceful and quiet." Zack said to himself. He turned and looked down the walk way. Tenchi was walking back from the fields. It was mid afternoon by this time, evening fast approaching. The sky was turning a golden hew as the sun began to sink behind the hills.

"Hi Zack. What are you doing out here?" Tenchi asked in a warm tone.

"Nothin'. Just looking at the sun set and stuff. This place is very nice. In its own way, I mean. Dracadia's sunsets are in a league of their own, but this is nice too."

"Ah," He smiled.

"Tenchi! Oh Tenchi!" yelled a voice inside the house. A panicked look came across Tenchi's face.

"Seems that Ryoko and Ayeka were let out of their confinement a little while ago." Zack said with a half chuckle. He knew from the earlier incident and from a gut feeling what this would lead to. Tenchi darted inside as Ryoko appeared next to Zack.

"Aw. I thought he would be out here too. Have you seen him, Zack?" Ryoko asked in a pseudo sad voice.

"Hm. Maybe he's still at the fields." Zack said signaling towards the fields.

"Ah, must be where he is. Thanks Zack" Ryoko said as she faded away again and reappeared down the long walk way flying towards the fields.

"Hm, that should keep her occupied for a few minutes." Zack said with satisfaction. He got up and walked inside. The aroma of that nights dinner was already filling the house.

A few hours later, after dinner and everyone was settling down for the night, Zack was wandering around Washu's lab, looking at all the specimens that were kept there. He eventually came to where his ship was. It was in a room with robotic arms and other devices attached every where. His ship was in a lock of some kind. He walked over to one of the platforms and it took him up to it. He climbed a small out side ladder and opened the hatch to his ship. Descending inside of his ship in darkness, he made his way around to the helm. It was his ship, and he knew the insides of it like the back of his hand. He took a seat. A light blue glow came over the control console. It awaited activation codes to start the ship.

Zack began to punch in numbers and symbols but stopped half way. He sat back, and looked into the black abyss of the main view 'window' of his ship. A blast shield was covering it preventing anything from being seen. His mind drifted a moment. Flashes of memory came to him. About his childhood and past, about his accomplishments at the War Academy, witnessing the first conflict in deep space over territory issues. He was shocked by the destruction that could occur over a planet from territory disputes. His mind continued to drift about what may come from the approaching conflict with Jurai. He could see the destruction and wastelands left by battles and the ruined nature of planets, both Juraian and Dracadaian planets. The wasted life on such meaningless power struggles. He blinked, and the image was gone. His eyes slowly closed and he fell asleep.

In the dark, a figure proceeded to climb out the hatch of Zack's ship. It hurried across the platform and back down the elevator platform back into the darkness that was ever present around Washu's lab.

"Bah! Wake up you fool!" Washu said hitting Zack over the head with a paper fan. "We've been looking all over for you."

"Ow, some wake up call." Zack said rubbing the back of his head. "What do you need, anyways?"

"We're leaving." Washu said walking down a set of stairs from the bridge, where Zack sat.

"What? Already? Its still early." Zack said getting up from his seat in a hurry. "I haven't even primed the engines."

"Its not early! It's nearly noon. And we've been looking for you since breakfast. Geez..." Washu said in annoyance. She climbed up the ladder to the top hatch and climbed out. Zack was about to follow when she peaked her head back. "Oh no. We're leaving. Start your engines up and prepare to take off." With that she shut the hatch.

"D-don't I even get something to eat?" Zack pleaded. A faint no could be heard. He frowned. "Damn. And Im hungry too."

Zack went back to the bridge. The console was still emitting a light blue glow. The sequence to start the ship was half entered. Zack finished it. The ship let out a few clicks and a large cylinder like compartment began to rise at an angel from behind Zack's seat. A rumble could be heard as the lights on the ship began to turn on, illuminating the once dark interior. Protocol was being automatically ran on the console and the blast shields over the window powers began to with draw, so that he had a dome shaped view around the bridge. A sturdy looking teal wall was in front of him. He looked over to see the Yagami Hovering to his right facing the same teal wall. A few crates were being loaded into his hanger.

"Welcome, Lieutenant Zackalazeriath. All Systems are Functional. Reactors are reading good. Out put is 40. Weapons systems are online and primed. Targetting systems are online and primed. Jump drive is charged. Life support systems are online. Phantom systems are online. Detection of allied ship within your proximity. Open link?" said an online computer.

"Dammit. Ok first off, computer, just refer to me as Zack." Zack said in frustration. It responded with a formal 'Understood.' "Second, has your programming been tampered with? What allied ship?"

"The Galaxy Police Cruiser, Yagami, is listed as an allied ship and is approximately 100 Meters starboard. The Ryo-Oh-Ki is also listed as an allied ship. Reprogramming logs detected as of 37 hours, 43 minutes, and 25 seconds ago. Programmer Identified as Washu. No previous information is known about new programmer. Purge all files and reboot system?" the on board computer questioned.

"What the hell did she do to my ship, exactly..." Zack said asking no one in particular. A holographic screen appeared in front of him.

"Oh, I gave it a tune up. Your ship is supposed to be the best in the Dracadian fleet, you say?" Washu said laughing.

"Yeah it is. What the hell are you comparing it to?" Zack said in a bit of anger.

"Oh nothing. Its not all that great, compared to the Soja." Washu said taking time to reflect on her masterpiece of a ship that was stolen by Kagato.

"I ..see. Yeah well that ship got destroyed and not to mention it happen to fly around the damn universe destroying any ruins it saw in sight." Zack retorted as he mad little hand signals in a mocking manner.

"Oh Hush. That was Kagato's fault. The Soja would have been the perfect ship if it werent for him. Anyways. I've called in to tell you to leave the things as they were. I don't want my hard work going to waste. Ill be very angry with you if you do anything. Anyways. Prepare to take off."

"How am I going to take off, theres nothing but a wall in front of me?"

"Just watch and learn." And with that, Washu cut the communication. The computer posed the same question about partitioning itself, but Zack told it to keep the information. Another formal 'Understood.' followed up.

"Damn, and what are we going to..." Zack began. "Woah. What the?"

The locks on his ship were taken off and his ship was now free floating inside the dock. Zack reorientated the ship.

"Warning. A high field of energy is detected starboard by bow. Activating detection fields." droned the computer.

"What the. Raise shields." Zack said.

"Unable to comply. Requires direct link up. Please direct link crew member to power shield systems."

"Oh yeah, err forgot about that. Then never mind. Huh?" Zack watched the Yagami. A black portal opened up in the wall in front the red cruiser and the Yagami slowly flew through it. When the ship was completely enveloped by the portal, the portal began to shrink away and disappear.

"High field of energy dissipating. Contact with the Yagami has been lost... Warning. High field of energy detected to the bow of the ship. Gravity constant is changing." warned the computer.

Zack looked forward to see a black hole begin to grow in front of his ship. Its size kept on growing and almost seemed it would devour his ship. And the lab. Platforms pulled away from Zack's ship and tucked neatly into the wall.  
"Warning. We are being drawn into the energy field." The computer warned once again. Zack tried to reverse thruster but couldn't. It seemed he was going to be drawn in either way. He went inside and everything outside turned black. He began to feel his ship rock unevenly and felt as if his ship was drifting. It apparently was because a moment later he could see the hole that he entered through from the dock shrinking into nothing ness. It was complete black. Nothing there. Zack began to panic, but a bright flash took his attention. He couldn't see anything any more outside the view ports. Just blinding white.

"What the hell is this?" Zack said in frustration, trying to make sense of what was happening. The ship rocked violently and the outside vision was restored. He was hovering outside the Masaki residence. He just sat there trying to comprehend what just happened. It was not like anything ever done before. A communication came over the speakers.

"You just going to sit there, or you going to get a move on?" It was Kiyone. Zack's computer blipped and whirred for a moment.

"Allied Ship detected approximately 3 miles above our current location, and ascending." It informed Zack. He powered up the thrusters and began his rise through earth's atmosphere. "Minor electrical disturbance in reactors 2 and 3. External disturbance detected on port side boosters. Coarse of Action?"

"Its probably nothing. Run a diagnostic later." Zack said. He plugged in new data as their heading. The evening sky soon faded away into darkness as he rose out of the Earth's atmosphere and into space. He was on the darkening side, and as he continued to fly 'upward', the rays of sunlight peaked around the edges of the third planet. He spotted the Yagami, as another communications came over his speakers.

"Now would be the time to use that handy Phantom of yours and disguise yourself as something Juraian in nature." This time it was Washu. Zack plugged in more information, though he stumbled a few times when trying to get it down correct. He wasnt over what had just occured. (I've got to remember to ask about what that was...) He thought to himself.

"Phantom Systems active. Redirecting Power. Engaging Phantom." the computers droned on more. The ship rumbled a bit as the front of his ship began to glow softly. Soon enough it was disguised by the look of Juraian craftsmanship, as the ship's external appearance was now a small Juraian trade ship. The ship rumbled again.

"Hm.." Zack said to himself.

"Hi!" A holographic monitor appeared right in front of Zack. Washu's face was in the picture with everyone else in the background.

"Gwah!" Zack fell backwards. "Gah, what exactly did you do to my ship!"

"I gave it a tune up. And updated some of the systems. Neat, huh?" Washu boasted.

(Neat my ass...) Zack mumbled. "Anyways, what was that thing I came through? You know, when I was in that dock then outside."

"Oh that, thats just a dimensional door. I kept the ships in the dock, and when they needed to be moved, I just opened up that and voila. By the way, I've modified the Phantom Program a tad too. You can set it up now so that you can affect the outward appearance of your ship in many different ways. Like, lets say a damaged communications tower instead of a pristine looking ship so that they aren't quick to think something is up if you don't respond to being hailed."

"Gee, thanks.. I guess." came a semi sarcastic response.

"Well, we'll keep in touch. Lead the way." and with that, the holographic screen disappeared.

"I kind of wish she would have just left you alone..." Zack sighed as he patted his console. "Make the heading for Jurai."

"Understood. Plotting shortest coarse. Approximately 15 days till we reach Jurai at top speed, in Phantom, without jumping." the computer responded.

Hours passed since leaving earth, and life was uneventful during that time. On the Zenith, Zack sat back and read some magazines he happened to pick up before leaving Earth. The story was the same on the Yagami. Washu set up some what of a replica house in the cargo hanger of the Yagami. Ayeka sat in the main room on one of the long sofas reading a small article. Mihoshi was sleeping on another sofa. Scents of something good being made drifted through the air, hinting that Sasami was at it again in the kitchen, making something for them to eat. Washu busied herself with a small device shed had started working on before they left and Ryoko sat sipping on some sake. Tenchi was keeping out of sight, and Kiyone was at the helm of the ship, keeping things in order.

"Washu... how is Zack going to eat if he's on his own ship?" Sasami said as she came out of the Kitchen.

"Oh, were well within 800 meters of his ship. We'll just use that dimensional door I brought along to drop things off on his ship." Washu reassured her.

"mm huh..?" Mihoshi mumbled something, half asleep. She opened her eyes slowly, and rubbed the sleep out of them. "Uhh..wah...Is it time to eat yet?"

"Not yet." Sasami said in her cheerful self.

The speakers came on. "Mihoshi, get up here. Your on duty." Kiyone's voice spread through the room. The sleepy blond galaxy police officer crawled off the couch.

"Wah... and I was having a good dream." Mihoshi said.

Kiyone came down from the helm, as Mihoshi went up to take over. She stretched out. "Everything seems to be running smoothly. We should get there in about 15 days or so."

"Huh? Why so long?" Ayeka said looking up from her reading material.

"Because we are following Zack's ship, and well the disguise its using isnt that fast I suppose, so it takes longer. Also looks beat up" Kiyone said taking a seat and putting her feat up on a small coffee table. "We wont have much to worry about for the most part. Not till we reach the first check point. Im sure there's going to be more then the usual with heavier security and all. Stupid war proclamation."

Jupiter was slowly passing by the Yagami's external windows that was located in the cargo bay. Kiyone looked out unto the massive gas planet and its huge red spot. The lights flickered a moment. Kiyone looked up curiously, but shrugged it off as they came back on. No one else seemed to have noticed the lights.

"Kiyone" came a whiny voice over the loud speakers. "Wah, I think we have a problem."

Kiyone got up and rushed up to the bridge along with Washu and Ayeka. Everyone else was either busy or drunk or hiding. "What is it, Mihoshi?"

"Look" Mihoshi said pointing at a monitor. It was a picture of Uranus.

"What about it?" Kiyone asked.

"There!" Washu said pointing. A glint of light caught Kiyone's eyes. She bent over and took control and zoomed the image. Sure enough, there was trouble. Or possible trouble. A small group of Juraian battle ships were passing through the system.

"Hm. It looks like they are not going to change direction any time soon, and they arent coming for us, so its no worries." Kiyone said standing back up. The lights flickered again, this time longer then before. As soon as they came back on, the ship's alarms were sounding off. "What the? What is it?"

"Wahhh, I told you it was trouble." Mihoshi said crying.

Kiyone took the other seat and began checking problems. She turned off the siren, as the door behind her opened up and Tenchi ran in with Ryoko hanging around his neck.

"Ahg, let go Ryoko.. Erk, Whats the matter!" Tenchi exclaimed.

"I..I dunno." Kiyone said sifting through her screen for the problem. "Huh?"

"Get your hands off Lord Tenchi," Ayeka yelled at Ryoko. Ryoko mumbled something that was like make me, making Ayeka try to pry her off of Tenchi.

"Hey, you two. Nows not the time.." Tenchi said trying to calm them. His plea fell on deaf ears like usual.

"What is it?" Washu said looking down at her screen. The lights flickered agian.

"The ship's power unit was being tampered with, along with the communications unit... What the heck is this?" Kiyone said frustrated as she tried to make out the situation.

"A communication is being sent out?" Washu said looking at the monitor.

"Wah, Kiyone!" Mihoshi whined.

"Not now, Mihoshi. Im trying to figure this out." Kiyone said, still frustrated.

"Ki-yo-ne!" Mihoshi continued to plead.

"Not NOW, Mihoshi." She yelled.

"Uh, Kiyone..." Tenchi said, also taking notice of Mihoshi's trouble.

"What, What is it?" Kiyone said finally snapping.

"We've got company." Tenchi said, pointing to the main monitor.

" Not good..." Washu said.

"Huh?" Ryoko said, still drunk and looking up from the fight she was having with Ayeka.

The small Juraian battle group was changing directions and accelerating towards the Yagami.

"You don't think that..." Kiyone said.

"Oh yeah, they are coming our way." Washu said reassuring her of her fear.

Kiyone held her head in her hands. "Well, no worries. We'll just tell them were escorting this ship and all. No worries." The Yagami rocked, and lights flickered again. Another holographic monitor popped up. "Huh, what now? EH? An escape shuttle just launched!"

"Haha. You fools thought you could just lock me up?" Came a voice over the communications line. "Im not some absent minded fool! Now you will all be destroyed!"

"Its Kiyo!" Tenchi stated. "How'd she get onboard. I thought she was still at the lab."

"I don't know. She's more clever then I anticipated, it seems." Washu said.

"Eh? Why not jush blasht the bitsh?" Ryoko said slurred.

"I, I cant. The weapon's systems arent responding." Kiyone said.

"Heh, heh, Why don't you sit down Ryoko. You seem to be drunk." Tenchi said. Ryoko latched onto Tenchi.

"Tenchi" Ryoko said in her usual demeanor.

"I told you to get your hands off Lord Tenchi, you hag!" Ayeka said. This prompted Ryoko and her to resume their fight.Another holographic monitor popped up.

"Hey guys. Did you guys notice a Juraian battle group is approaching us?" Zack said with a hint of anger in his voice.

"Of coarse we knew. We just got screwed by Kiyo. We cant attack, and it seems she contacted them to change direction." Kiyone stated in frustration as she meddled with the control console. Mihoshi was crying in the back ground saying they were all going to die.

"Damn." Zack cut the communication. He ran up some data.

"Battle zone is being set up. Approximately 3 and a half minutes until battle zone is active. Power surge detected from Juraian battle formation. High probability that their weapon systems are arming and they plan to destroy us." the computer droned on as if it didnt care one way or the next.

"You don't say..." Zack said in a sarcastic tone. He re-opened the communications link. "They will be on us in about 3 minutes, and they mean business. They are already charging their weapons."

"Got any ideas?" Kiyone said frustrated. Washu was sitting there looking stumped.

"I don't have anything in particular in mind. We could..." Washu said. The holographic monitor appeared again.

"I've got it. Ill drop the facade and jump past them. They should turn around and follow me. Ill just ditch them then, and we can meet up again." Zack said over the communications.

"Wait no, thats probably... oh boy. He's going to do it anyways..." Washu sighed as the communication was cut.

The Zenith returned to is original look as the fake ship exterior seemed to fade away, like mist.

"Power up and prime the jump reactors. We're goign to jump passed them and make em follow us." Zack said.

"Jump reactors are powered up and primed. Awaiting launch order." the computer questioned.

Zack pushed the throttle the back and activated the jump. But it did not go as planned. The ship rocked violently.

"Electrical disturbance detected in reactors. Warning, Reactors 1 through 4 are over heating. Electrical rift detected. External electrical power surge detected." the computer droned on as the warning sirens came on.

"Erk dammit, Abort Jump." Zack said doing the reverse procedures to stop the jump.

"Unable to comply. Malfunction in the engine. Warning, Electrical spike detected. Allied ship Yagami is caught in a temporal electrical discharge from our ship. They are being drawn into the jump sphere by our ship. High probability of system instability." the computer continued to express concern in its monotonous tone.

"Oh damn..." Zack muttered. An energy sphere was already forming at the bow of the Zenith. It was through this energy bubble that jumping was done.

"Ah what is happening?" Kiyone said typing feriously away at the control console. "The Yagami is being pulled towards the Zenith. I cant stop it."

"We seem to be getting drawn in by electrical discharges from their ship." Washu said veiwing the situation from her holo-computer. The Yagami rocked violently. The Juraian fleet was coming on fast. It would be in firing range. Small orbs of light began to bud all over the Juraian ships as they approached. "That fleet will be in our firing range in half a minute. We've got to break away and get control of the weapons syste.."

Washu never got that chance. Bright light enveloped the helm. It subsided slowly as the ship was rocking heavily. Multi colored light just flew by. Warnings were popping up all over the ships console as the Yagami began to creak and moan violently. The Zenith could be seen in front of them shaking heavily.

"I-I-ca-nt-m-move" Said the voice of tenchi as he was pinned to the wall. Flickers of star's and light flashed by. It seemed like they were in a large glass tube, as light traveled around them.

Just as fast as the light came and left, it would return and leave, in a similar fashion. When the regained normal space, they were not near Jupiter like they had been before. Tenchi picked himself up from the floor, along with the others. Tenchi looked out the window. They were in the middle of nowhere, it seemed. A few asteroids passed by, but other then that, there were no near by planets or stars. Everything seemed so distant.

A holographic monitor popped up. "Are you guys alright?" It was Zack. He seemed a bit flustered.

"W-What was that?" Kiyone asked, sitting herself down in her chair again.

"It was a jump, but I don't know how you guys got sucked in." Zack said.

You idiot! That wasnt very bright. Anyways, It happened because an energy leak created a gravity well near your ship. We got pulled into the jump as well. That was interesting." Washu said scientifically.

"The ship has pressure fractures all over, so we may have to sit tight." Kiyone stated as she typed away at a small console. She sighed heavily. "We need to make repairs before continuing."

"I think we need a better plan, too." Tenchi said. "Ah. Ayeka! Ryoko!"

Ayeka was knocked out on top of Ryoko, who was also knocked out. Tenchi helped Ayeka off Ryoko, as Mihoshi went to help.

"Im stuck here too. Washu, could you come over here when you get the free time and help out. Im in a bit of a jam." Zack said rubbing the back of his head.

"Why? What happened?" She asked, not pleased.

"I burnt out my reactors. Creating a jump sphere for both ships was to large a mass for the reactors. They're kind of fried." replied the Dracadian.

"Ill be on over after I fix things here. Tenchi, why don't you get those girls to their rooms and then come help me fix things. Kiyone, why don't you come up with another plan. Mihoshi, you just sit there and don't touch anything." Washu said giving out orders. The holographic monitor fizzed out.

"Well damn, this space voyage certainly started off swell..." Zack said leaning back in his chair. Nothing but deep space was to be seen. And it seemed to him that it would be like that for a few hours at the very least. 


	7. Ch 7 No Need For A Kidnapping

Hooo Hum. I continue to write, even it if is pointless. Action! We need action! Well were getting there, I think. Oh yeah, the currency of Jurai is, JURAI! Yeah, bet you didnt guess that. I remember seeing that in one of the Universe Eps, unless Im being stupid again! Anyways, so yeah, when someone refers to Jurai as currency, like that drink costed 10 Jurai, its money they are talking about! But Im sure everyone knew that and I was left in the dark. (Sobs) On with the show!

Ch 7 No Need For A Kidnapping

As Zack predicted, hours passed by. Days worth of hours. The Yagami and Zenith floated about space for a day or so. Glowing light could be seen in cracks of the Yagami's exterior as they were being sealed from within. Zack busied himself trying to repair the Zenith's reactors himself. It was until the beginning of the second day they were adrift in space that Washu came over to his ship via the dimensional door.

"Hm, not bad, kid. It's a bang up job, but not to shabby." Washu said as she inspected the damaged reactors of the Zenith. Tenchi was looking about the ship, enthralled by the differences it had with the Yagami or for that fact, any other ship he had been on. The interiors of the Zenith were much more angular and not so bright in fashion, but darker colored. Lights glowed all over the corridors and hall ways of the ship, giving it a different type of atmosphere then the Yagami. Small gems glowed all sorts of colors, pending on the door they were attached too. They seemed to act as locks, sealing up parts of the ship.

"I tried my hand at it and got a bit of it fixed. I can move again, but there are a lot of parts that need to be replaced." Zack said in defeat. Washu climbed into one of the cylinders that housed the reactors. After a moments time small parts began to be thrown out the small hatch she climbed in through. She peaked her head back out.

"Oh yeah, theres a lot of stuff here that needs to be changed it seems. The Yagami is the same way. We have to find a planet or something near by to do repairs. Kiyone is working on our current position, and the nearest planets we could stop at." the scientist said. A beeping noise came up from Washu's wrist. Her wrist band displayed an image of Kiyone.

"You should come back, Washu. I've found out where we are." Kiyone said. The image fizzled out.

"Well back to the Yagami." Washu said jumping of the reactor cylinder. She walked back to her dimensional door and opened it. Zack followed her through it. He was taken back when he realized he was on the Yagami.

"H-how did you do that?" Zack said. "Know what, never mind. It seems like your capable of anything..."

"Isn't it the truth" Washu said smiling maniacally. They proceeded to the bridge of the Yagami, where Kiyone was sitting. Ryoko and Ayeka were there also.

"Er wheres Lord Tenchi?" Ayeka asked noticing he wasnt there.

"Oops, err, I guess I left him on the ship...sorry" Zack said realizing his blunder.

"Oh my, How could you leave Lord Tenchi on that dreadful ship." Ayeka asked in worry.

"Its not dreadful.." Zack replied with a small bit of annoyance in each word.

"So where we at?" questioned a scientist.

"We're in the middle of no where, to be frank. Closest system is the Cistin System. I think I heard things about that area, but I cant remember what. I know that its located somewhere along the edge of the division between the Jurai and Dracadia Empires." Kiyone stated. "Yet neither one lays claim to it."

"Its because its Pirate Paradise" Ryoko said.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Zack inquired.

"The system is a pirate haven. The planet that's virtually in charge of it is a large planet called Balboas. It's swarming with pirates, thieves, murders, gangs. The whole lot. I remember hearing about that place before being sealed away by Yosho. Its pretty much the run down part of the Galaxy. No one wants part of that place." Ryoko explained. " Its pretty bad, that Jurai ignores it like death, and the GP stay as far away as possible. Only the bravest bounty hunters dare go in there. A lot don't come back. The planet itself is run by a few syndicates that are waring with each other over control. Or they were atleast. I don't know the situation now, but it would be the best place to get repairs, since you can virtually get anything from weapons to lives there."

"Isnt there a better choice?" Zack asked again.

"Not really. Its best to go there since we wont worry about Juraians or GP following us." Ryoko said.

"It certainly does sound like your kind of trash hole, now doesnt it, Ryoko?" Ayeka commented maliciously. "You may want to go there, but Im sure theres a better and safer place."

"Oh Im sure you would love it there too. You see they got a thing for Juraian Royalty there. You will just fit right in." an angered Ryoko replied.

"As reluctant as Im to say this, she does have a point, Ayeka. It will be harder to track us and we may learn something about what were up against if we do happen to go there." Kiyone said.

"Nya nya, See." Ryoko said to Ayeka. She gave a 'hmph'.

"We just have to keep our eyes peeled and on our toes at all times when going there, so we don't get conned or what not." Washu said.

"Uh, one question. If they don't like the GP, then what about the Yagami. It's a police cruiser, isn't it?" "Hm, guess we will have to remove the tags and license before going there, and say the ship is a hijacked one." Washu said grinning with anticipation. "And I know exactly how we could do that. I invented something for just this."

"Oh no, not my precious Yagami." Kiyone muttered as she slumped back in her chair.

Soon enough, the Zenith and Yagami were making their way towards Balboas. Both ships tried to look as stable as possible, making them less of a target from pirates as they approached the system. A few hours passed by before they actually saw the star system. It was rather small. Only 4 planets and a small dwarf star.

"The planet second closest from the dwarf is Balboas. The big black looking one." Ryoko said pointing it out. Within time, they were within sight of the planet. Debris and ruined ships were littered about the region. They were GP and Juraian in origin, along with a few indistinguishable ships. It was like a sign for the Galaxy Police and Jurai to stay away. They passed through the debris field. Ships darted about, to and from the planet, as the Yagami passed through the dense black atmosphere of the planet. The cloud cover covered the view ports and nothing was visible. Thunder roared inside the cloud cover, causing brilliant neon blue flashes every now and then.

Soon enough, the Zenith and Yagami broke through the cloud cover and continued their descent. The place had the look and feel of piracy, as the darkness seemed to reign supreme over the cities below. Bright street lamps and building signs seemed to illuminate a vast majority of this always dark planet. It shimmered in a golden glow of light, to sum it up in simpler terms.

It was not to hard to find a suitable dock for the Yagami and Zenith. It looked run down, but Washu said it had all the necessary machines to do repairs, and it was considered to be cheaper then its competitors, though Kiyone took note that the dock fees were outragous.

"Now thats much better for you Ayeka. Makes you look good. I must say though, that tank top does look awfully baggy for you." Ryoko mocked as she looked at Ayeka's new outfit. Being from Jurai, it was suggested that Ayeka not walk around in her usual attire as she was easier prey. For Kiyone and Ryoko, it didnt matter to much because their clothes were more street apparel and would blend in better then Ayeka would. She was forced to borrow some clothing from Ryoko as a result, since Kiyone's clothing didnt fit right and was somewhat limited. Ayeka wore what was like a black tank top covered up by a red mini jackat. She wore shorts and knee high black boots that matched along with the get up.

"Oh shut up, Ryoko. I swear, as soon as we get off this god forsaken rock, Im going to bath myself for hours to get off the smell. I mean look at me! I look like a tramp!" Ayeka said in disgust.

"Eh? What smell, you pompous princess?" Ryoko bit back with anger.

"Now now girls, Tenchi said trying to calm the two, but he apparently never learned that such words were futile to the two alien girls. Washu stepped in to end the dispute.

"Will you two put a sock in it, for once. We still need to get some parts so we can repair the reactors of the Zenith and some of the computer systems on the Yagami. Kiyone, you should go with Ryoko and Ayeka to get the parts I need. While your at it, go see if you can pick up any information on who were up against" Washu said as she gave Kiyone a list of supplies and a small black sphere. "You girls stick together now, we don't want any kidnapings now, do we?"

Ryoko, Kiyone, and Ayeka walked off into the darkness of the city. Washu went back to the dock and looked up at the sky. "Boy, cant really tell day from night here, can you. Hmm.."

The sky rumbled above and a neon blue streak of light moved across it.

"Hey a night club. How bout stopping here first" Ryoko said with a smile, obviously having alcohol on mind. Ayeka also knew what Ryoko wanted.

"Good heavens, cant you go more then 24 hours without getting liquored up?" Ayeka said.

"Your obnoxious, you know that. Besides, we can get some good info here." Ryoko said proceeding through the bar's double doors.

"I am not obnoxious." Ayeka yelled as she stormed off following Ryoko. Kiyone sighed and follow the two inside. It was musky as the smell of smoke filtered through the air. As one would expect it to be quiet in a melancholy way, it wasnt. It was loud, as exotic music roared in the background. It was generally dark however, as a blue tint from neon lighting encircled the place. Ryoko sat at a stool at the bar. Ayeka and Kiyone sat next to her. A 'tv' monitor was blaring in the background. It was on a news network, as ironic as that was. Kiyone thought about it.

(Maybe they get a kick from seeing their wanted faces on the news...) She thought to herself. The barkeep served Ryoko some alcoholic beverage. Kiyone got herself bottle of some brand name beer, and took a sip. Tasted foul at first, but was slightly addicting in some sense. She made a mental note not to drink to much, for she predicted that Ayeka and Ryoko would get into a drinking contest and be drunk off their seats for the rest of the evening. It wasn't long till things turned out just that way. Ayeka and Ryoko drank away cheerfully without a care in the world.

"Excuse me, Barkeep. I've got a few questions. You know anything about this war between the Dracadians and Juraians?" Kiyone questioned as the barkeep stooped down to hear her. He was probably an out of place fellow, when Kiyone really saw him. He was old, maybe 65, with big bushy white eyebrows and mustache. He was very slim as his cheek bones seemed to almost poke through the skin. Bald as well, other then the mustache and eyebrows. He had small soft grey eyes and wore a red velvet like dress pants and vest, with a crisp white dress shirt underneath and a small tie. Kiyone felt this was a person that could probably be trusted for information, and was not someone to take easy either.

"What kind of information are you looking for, ma'am. Here on this planet, anything can be bought for a price. Information is no exception." The barkeep said in a low voice, while cleaning a glass mug with a hand towel.

"Whats the odds of the Juraians winning, or have anything began yet? The fighting that is? I've heard that they issued a War decree, but havent heard of anything since." Kiyone replied, pulling out 100 Jurai and handing it to the barkeep. He pocketed it.

"Nothing much has happened, if anything. Its eerie, if you think of it. The Dracadian fleet has already pulled up to the division but is actually hesitant to attack, since they are not greeted by the Juraian fleet. Really out of the ordinary. I've also heard rumors that the Dracadian fleet is short 2 of its fleets. They say that two of its fleets moved to investigate a possible pre-emptive strike that Juraian's were making, and didnt come back." the barkeep informed Kiyone.

"Hm, have you heard anything about Jurai itself and its government's status?" Kiyone asked.

"Ahem." the barkeep said motioning with his hand. Kiyone gritted her teeth and pulled out 100 more Jurai and handed it to him.

"I've heard theres been some kind of coup at the top, with the top military officials trying to over throw the control of the Royal family." said the barkeep. He got real close to Kiyone. She leaned over to hear him better. "I've also heard, from a now dead pirate, that the Juraian military is after something precious to the Dracadians. I cant really think of anything the Dracadians have that is real precious, though, so it may just be a rumor."

"Thanks," Kiyone said.

"You seem like a nice girl," the barkeep said. "Ill let you in some information that may pertain to your safety. Get out while you still can. This planet's syndicates are out of control and are raging a war. Of coarse, most don't think twice about it, but I can tell your not from around here. So its important you leave when you can."

He glanced around and resumed cleaning like nothing ever happened. Kiyone gave a weird expression but he didnt seem to notice. She went back to sipping at her drink. The news continued to drone on.

"...In recent news, a funeral service for the princesses of Jurai will be held within a week. The bodies of both Ayeka Jurai and Sasami Jurai were found earlier this week in the the ruined Juraian ship, Cestal, which was found on the colony planet of 0315, or Earth by local officials," the news reporter stated. A cheer rose of from a near by crowd of pirates. They murmured obscenities about Ayeka and Sasami amongst themselves. "Both were killed by an collaborative attack from a Dracadian Assassin and two Galaxy Police Officers. The pilot of the unknown dracadian ship which assisted in the assassination of the two royal princesses is still to be determined, but Mihoshi Kiramitsu and Kiyone Makibi are the two ex- Galaxy Police officers sought after by Juraian military. A bounty of 150 million Jurai is on their heads as of this report for information or the capture of these two felons." Pictures and diagrams of the Yagami came up, followed by pictures of Mihoshi and Kiyone. Kiyone began to feel uneasy, and felt it was time to leave.

"Wow Ayeka, that sure does look like you. They say camera'sh add 10 or 15 pounds, but it looksh just like you hic. Nice an' plump" Ryoko teased.

"Ill have you know that I am not plump. Im well toned and have thish gorgeous smooth skin, unlike your sagging, old, rough skin, you crone" Ayeka retorted.

"What'd chu say, wench?" Ryoko said getting in a drunken rage.

"My my, what are fine ladies like you three doing in a place like this." A tall scruffy, but well built pirate said, with a few others standing behind him.

"What'sh it to you?" Ryoko said spinning around in her bar seat.

The tall pirate leaned down real close to Ryoko. The other pirates circled around close to Ayeka and Kiyone.

"Well, a sweet thing like you is worth a lot to some people it seems? Im no bounty hunter, but I don't regret turning in other killers for my own gain." The tall one said with a smile.

A skinny pirate stroked Kiyone's hair. "Besides, before we turn you 3 ladies in, we could have some real fun."

Ryoko was filling with anger, along with the other two girls and was about to horribly maim the tall pirate before hearing a click over her head. The tall pirate was now looking down the barrel of some sort of weapon. Behind it, the barkeep held it steady.

"Take your trash and get out of my bar. I wont have any fighting or detainment in my bar." the barkeep threatened. The scruffy tall pirate stood upright. He towered over the barkeep but it didnt seem to even make the worlds of a difference to him.

"And what if I don't." he said in defiance.

"You'll be leaving here in a plastic bag." the barkeep replied, not giving an inch of ground to the pirate.

"You don't know who your messin' with, old man!" said the skinny pirate that was touching Kiyone a moment before. He drew back and pulled out a pistol, but took his attention off Kiyone who promptly got up and knocked him down with a hard jab the stomach, followed by a kick to the face. He doubled over into a pile on the ground, unconscious. Ryoko followed suit and took out the tall scruffy pirate in a second. He tried to stab at her with a concealed knife, but she grabbed and broke the blade with her bare hands. They checked over to see if Ayeka was alright, but she had already taken care of her business with the last remaining pirate. The tall scrawny pirate crawled across the floor and got up. He ran out the door, saying something like he would get them for this.

"Thanks again" Kiyone said to the barkeep.

"You girls can certainly handle your own. Him and his cronies are just low level syndicate trash on this planet. Though my advice is still the same. Now even more urgent with a bounty on you. You should definitely take the princess away from here. There are a lot of unscrupulous people that don't like Jurai royalty around here. The syndicates for starters." said the barkeep putting away his rifle. He picked up his rag and mug and began cleaning it again.

"How'd you know?" Kiyone asked. The barkeep just smiled at her. There was definitely much more to the barkeep then meet the eye, Kiyone thought. They gave their thanks, payed the tab and left. Ryoko and Ayeka had sobered up pretty quick, though both were still 'giggly' from the drinks. They made their rounds and came back to the Yagami.

"Welcome back girls. Did you girls get everything?" Washu said greeting them "Urk, have you been drinking again, Ryoko?"

Ryoko didnt answer, but passed by boarding the Yagami. Ayeka tried to look some what dignified again, but it was apparent that at least she had one drink to many.

"Ill take that as a yes...Anyways, did you get everything?" Washu asked again.

"No, we asked around for some of the parts, but we will have to come back tomarrow morning for them. Some of these places arent open 24 hours exactly." Kiyone said handing Washu a small black sphere. Washu had given her it before leaving so she would have some place to store all the needed materials. It was a device that could store nearly an infinite amount of materials, no matter the mass. Washu tossed it up in the air and caught it again. "Excellent. So we will continue with repairs then tomarrow and maybe we can leave after tomarrow. We best hurry now. Its near dinner time, I think. Cant really tell on this planet other then by watch. Which isnt reliable since the clouds of there create a soft EMP every few hours. Just enough to throw off minor electronics." Kiyone followed close as they boarded the red GP cruiser. More lightning and thunder roared in the clouds again, briefly illuminating the dark corners of the dock. A figure drabbed in a black suit could be seen. The shadows returned and fled yet again from another flash of light, but the figure was not there the second time.

The usual 'evening' routine progressed, to some degree. Ayeka and Ryoko fought over trivial things at the dinner table, Sasami cleaned dishes, Mihoshi slept and Ryoko flipped through channals. Kiyone, Tenchi, Washu, and Zack sat at the emptied dinner table listening to what Kiyone learned.

"Hmm. Thats interesting news to hear." Washu said after hearing all the days events. "So they set up the deaths of Ayeka and Sasami. That would definitely further fuel the war effort. Make things much easier. Though Im sure they are searching frantically for those two as of this moment."

"So what are we going to do then?" Zack asked.

"Well we should leave as soon as possible. That bar keep is right, I think." Tenchi said. "I don't like the feel of this place."

"Me neither, but we cant leave till we have all the repairs done. Tomarrow we will get the last of the needed parts and finish the repairs over night or day or whatever." Washu said.

"Zack, what do you think that bar keep meant by something precious to the Dracadians?" Kiyone asked.

"I don't know, really. I mean theres a lot of things that can be seen precious to us. Our phantom and jump technology is something that could be cause us destruction if Jurai were ever able to learn how it works completely. I mean, Im sure they've tried to replicate it in some degree, but it doesn't seem to work for them." Zack explained. " I really don't know. Could be technology, resources, or what ever. Though we do lack resources...so it cant be something we mine or harvest for that matter."

"Hm, well no matter. The sooner we get to Jurai and fix this calamity, the better." Washu said getting up from the table. "Im going to get some shut eye. Need to be up bright and early to finish repairs."

Washu walked off, and Kiyone and Tenchi also agreed to do likewise.

"Im going to go back to the Zenith." Zack said walking back to the dimensional door. Was a faster way to get back to the Zenith without going outside. When he got back to the Zenith, a troubled look crossed his face. He went to the bridge to see if anything was wrong there, but of coarse there wasnt anything wrong. (They are after it, I have a gut feeling on this one...) He thought to himself. (Not much I can do though at the moment. If I try any contact, it may be intercepted...). He walked back to his quarters on the Zenith and went to sleep.

The next morning came, sort of. It was still bleak outside. Light did not penetrate the cloud cover it seemed. Kiyone was already off with Ayeka and Ryoko to get the supplies. Washu and Sasami saw the off with Tenchi.

"Tenchi, lets go somewhere when I get back." Ryoko asked in her usual demeanor. Ayeka was hung over and really didnt feel like giving any objections to Ryoko's usual behavior.

"Im going to go now too, and pick up some of the other supplies." Tenchi said, also leaving.

"Be careful, Tenchi. Keep your eyes open." Washu warned him.

"Hurry back soon." Sasami waved them good bye. "Come on Ryo-Oh-Ki. Lets go look around a bit. Gak!"

Washu had grabbed her by the back of her collar as she was about to walk off. "Now you wait just a sec. You should go wait inside the Yagami. This isnt a place that you should be wondering about."

"Aw, it will only be around the hanger." Sasami pleaded. "I've been on the ship for a while now. And Im not a little girl any more."

"Nuh-uh. Back to the Yagami." Washu said, adamant about her decision.

Zack came down on a lift, wearing some dirtied overalls and a smudged up grey shirt.

"What are you two up to already?" Zack asked.

"Sasami, its dangerous out here." Washu said. She was getting to lose her temper on the issue. Even though she is usually nice with Sasami, sometimes she needed to be assertive for Sasami's better good.

"Oh fine." Sasami said and went back up the platform elevator to the Yagami.

"What was that?" Zack asked.

"She wanted to explore the dock. I told her no because its dangerous around here. I don't want anything to happen." Washu said. She pulled out a hammer that had 'Genius Hammer' carved into it. "Ready?"

Sasami watched Washu and Zack from a port view until they boarded the Zenith. "Come on Ryo-Oh-Ki, now's our chance."

"Meow mreow!" Ryo-Oh-Ki protested. "Mreow meoww"

"Oh come on" Sasami said smiling. She went down to the hanger elevator platform and took it back down. "Im only going to go take a look around the hanger for a few minutes. Nothing bad could happen."

On the Zenith, Washu was working on the reactor cylinders again with Zack.

"Im really surprised you can even find some of this stuff here. I mean, its hard to get ahold of some of the materials on this ship even if you were a fleet mechanic." Zack said as he was loosening a bolt on a small panel. Wires spilled out when he removed the panel.

"Yeps. Everything and Anything can be bought at places like these." Washu said. Her stomach growled with hunger. "Oh, heh heh. I didnt eat breakfast again. Its becoming a bad habit it seems."

"Then lets go grab something to eat." Zack said. He got out of the reactor cylinder and Washu did likewise. They talked while walking back to the Yagami.

"Interesting bracelets. I never knew you were into womens jewelry." Washu teased noticing the duel bracelets on both his arms. "Kind of industrial in design, don't you think?"

"Oh these, err yeah. Supposed to be for medicinal purposes. Ya'know relieve stress and all." Zack said quickly.

"If you need stress relievers, you could have just asked me. In fact, I've got a new type that I need someone to try out. Was going to have Tenchi take a few, but he tends to stay away from my lab..." Washu said in disappointment.

"Err, N-no thanks. I think Ill just stick with these for now." Zack said, turning down her offer.

They were walking across a catwalk in between the Yagami when a scream echoed through the hanger.

"What was that?" Zack said becoming alert.

"It sounded like Sasami. We have to hurry." Washu said sprinting off down the catwalk. She climbed down a ladder to a lower cat walk and ran around a small corner which allowed her to see the whole dock. There was a piece of rolled up paper on one of the lower catwalks. Washu quickly climbed down a few more ladders and raced towards it and unrolled it.

'Meet at the Renevire at 7 pm.'

A peice of blue hair was stuck to the paper. It was Sasami's. Zack caught up.

"W-What is it?" Zack said. Washu was on her knees, tears in her eyes. She handed the letter to Zack. "Oh no... We've got to get the others here back on the double."

"I should have just let her come with us, so she would have been somewhat satisfied and we could keep on eye on her."

"Come on, we don't have time."

"Y-your right." Washu said, getting up. She summoned her holo computer. It beeped a few times before some screens came up with the face of each member of Tenchi's entourage. "Everyone get back to the Dock, now. Something has happened."

She closed the communication and wiped her eyes clean. She took the note in hand and smashed it with her fingers. 


	8. Ch 8 No Need For Hostile Negotiations

OK time for some Chapter 8 Here! Actually, I do think that CH 9 and 10 will be a half-half type thing. Anyways, Off I go, TO WRITE this epic. I feel like happy.

AH yes, more stuff I must add here I suppose. Um, if you the uber reader hasnt read this somewhere, I thought I put it somewhere but I guess not , the story is a cross between Universe and the OAV. Reason behind this is because there are aspects about both I like a lot. And Im trying hard to incorporate them both into one main storyline type thing. Like example would be that Tenchi can perform light hawk wings, as he will do so at late times, but to my believing (and this is jsut me here) I dont think he can just bust em out at any given time along with all his other strengths. I believe to some extent that he has the powers, just not sure how to use them fully as of this story. And yeah, Ryoko is the daughter of Washu. Oav 7 or 8 explains that if Im thinking right.Also, updating ish going to be slow still . D: School AP exams and what not, making my life harder then it should be . Poop...Anyways, Yeah. :D . Err Back to the story :D.

Ch 8 No Need For Hostile Negotiations.

"You've got to do something!" Ayeka said, tears swelling in her eyes. The news hadn't gone to well with. "I mean, this is all your fault! If anything happens to her..."

She was yelling at Washu, who didnt look all that cheerful herself. They were aboard the Yagami in the 'living room' space in its cargo hanger. Everyone had a look of worry on their face.

"Now, now Ayeka. This isnt Washu's fault. It's nobodies fault..." Tenchi said trying to calm her down. Ayeka started to break down. She cried into Tenchi's shoulder, who was trying to sooth her.

"What are we going to do then?" Mihoshi asked.

"Well theres only really one thing we can do, and that's go to this Renevire place and get her back. Ill burn it to the ground if I have to." Zack said angry. Ryoko nodded in agreement.

"We'll all go there and tear that place up to get her back. Make 'em wish they never kidnaped her." Ryoko said standing up.

"...Hold your horses a second." Washu said looking up from her lap. "We don't know if she's there or not, so don't go there causing trouble just yet..."

Ayeka looked up, still teary eyed. "W-what do you mean. How can you be so cold. They deserve that."

"Look, if we go in there guns-ablaze, and she's not there, then what?" Washu said. She was starting to get her composure back.

"We need to come up with a plan. They will most knowingly want something for her return." Kiyone said agreeing with Washu. "We will all go for starters, and see what it is they want. In the mean time, you all need to get a grip of yourselves so we can do this without a problem. If any of you is to emotional, you should stay here. Making 'them' mad will only hurt Sasami in the long run. Its about a quarter to six now, so Im going to get myself cleaned up and ready to go. I suggest you all do the same if your coming."

She got up from her spot and walked off. Everyone was a bit aw-struck at the authority. Washu stood up and left as well.

"I guess I should probably clean myself up a little, too..."Ryoko said. Mihoshi agreed and joined her. Zack went back to the Zenith to get "some things" as he called it, leaving only Tenchi and Ayeka.

"Don't worry, Ayeka. We will get her back. I promise. Now lets go get you cleaned up so you are ready to go as well." He said, reassuring her. She hugged him close and they walked off to get ready.

45 minutes passed by fairly rapidly, and everyone was set. Washu was wearing her science academy outfit, and Ryoko was in her standard apparel, as Kiyone and Mihoshi also wore their same outfits. Because they were going outside once again, Ayeka had to wear what she had been wearing the night before with Kiyone and Ryoko. Tenchi dressed in his blue jeans and dark brown over heavy shirt and black undershirt and Zack came back with his earth clothes and a bag he had slung around his shoulder.

"Whats in the bag?" Ryoko asked.

"Stuff in case things get out of hand. Er, by the way, any of you know where this place is?" Zack replied and then questioned. Everyone began to look grim for a second, realizing they didnt know where the place was. Just a name was all they had to go by. Washu summoned her holo-computer and began a search for such a place.

"A ha! Found it...urk.." Washu said. She face faultered

"What is it?" asked Tenchi.

"The place is across the city, and to fly there would be the best way to get there, only there's no place to land on that side of the city. Besides, flying the Yagami there might not be bright. So we have to walk on foot it seems..." Washu explained.

"Wait what? Why don't we just use the Ryo-Oh-Ki?" Ryoko questioned, not keen on the idea.

"Have you happened to notice that Ryo-Oh-Ki isnt around? And that you cant contact her?" Washu said, making Ryoko realize it.

"I've got a small cruiser on the Zenith. Its made for landing parties, so it will hold all of us. Just don't expect it to be a luxury car or anything..." Zack said. "To the Zenith!"

"Err hold it a sec there, what do you mean by cruiser?" Tenchi questioned.

"Oh err, well it can hold 25 people, excluding pilots, has to forward mounted cannons, and a rear turret, and what not. Can reach space for temporary amounts of time, and has pretty good armor. You know the usual."

"Ah...I see..." Tenchi said.

They followed Zack back to the Zenith and from there to the deployment section on the Zenith. It was on the underside, and the cruiser connected firmly to the ship and was shielded with a small plate door and under side turrets. Zack plugged in a key code and the door to the cruiser slid open.

"After you." he said signaling for Tenchi and the others to get on. He got on last and went aboard to the front and sat down in a cockpit seat. The seats were along the side walls and faced eachother. A center divider went down the middle of the spacious cabin. Towards the back end of the cruiser two sat small 'lunar' vehicles. Zack typed in start codes into the console and the ship began to whirr and rumble. A blast shield pulled down giving Zack a full overhead view. Start sequences came up. The cabin filled with white light to illuminate it.

"Err Alright, I havent flown this in a while, so this will be a bumpy ride.." Zack stated.

Everyone grimaced at his words. The ship lurched forward and then backwards. Ryoko hit her head.

"Hey, take it easy!" Ryoko said rubbing the sore spot with one hand and clenching her other fist

"Er, sorry.." Zack said from the helm. The engines revved and they were soon flying.

"We'll be there in a few minutes, I think..." Zack said as he piloted the cruiser out of the hanger into the air. Lights flashed by below. A surreal but calm feeling came from watching the lights. To the moment, it seemed like the lights were quite pretty to watch, but knowing that these lights glowed in a city wrought with evil, they could almost hate them just as much as they enjoyed the view.

"I think that's it up ahead..." Zack said. They looked out the window at the massive building on the horizon. The smaller buildings, and even some of the near by sky scrapers, were dwarfed by this pyramid like building. Its silhouette gave it an ominous and evil feel, and Zack began to have second thoughts of even coming to meet at such a place. The surface of the building appeared to be obsidian in nature with no visible windows or balconies. Just a smooth face that met a 'trench' mid way up and then continued with its smooth surface. "I think there's a landing spot over there."

He motioned to a small clearing where other 'vehicles' seemed to be. The craft made a slow descent came to a rough stop as it touched down on the ground.

"Luxury cruise is right..." Ryoko said standing up and stretching out.

They hopped out from the small cruiser and proceeded to look around. A few street lights lit the clearing and tall walls separated the clearing from the obsidian pyramid. They walked along the walls till they came to a steel gate. It opened without even them making the slightest intention of entering or even knocking, as if it waited for them. Tenchi clenched his master key and Zack shifted the sack's weight he was carrying over one shoulder. They progressed with caution.

Inside the walls was much different then what was seen outside and In the rest of the city. Even though it was still dark, they could make out the shapes of trees and other plants. Grass grew lively along the walkways, and was sectioned in parts. Fountains gushed waters as multi colored lights focused their attention on the obsidian and marble center pieces of those fountains. They followed the smooth main walkway all the way up to a large steel, but ornate, door. This door also opened, but Tenchi and the others were greeted by guards in black suits. They said nothing, but motioned for them to follow.

After a few hallways and turns and some more security, they came to an elevator. The brass elevator doors slid open and a ding rang, and they walked in.

"I don't like this..." Ryoko said, looking around the elevator.

"They haven't even bothered to check us for weapons" Kiyone said, feeling just as uneasy. "They are way to inviting."

"Just keep your cool, both of you." Washu said. (Especially you Ryoko. I know this place bothers you, it does me as well. But last thing we need is for you to upset someone, so discharge.)

Ryoko tensed up for a moment, then sighed. She let go of the energy she was beginning to gather in her hand, that Washu had keenly noticed.

"If we all just stay calm, nothing will go wrong. But don't let your guards down." Tenchi said in a serious tone. It was obvious he didnt like the set up either. Floors seemed to fly by, but eventually the elevator gave a slight jerk and stopped. The brass doors slid open again, accompanied with another ding. In front of them was a long corridor, with wooden double doors at its end. The corridor was lit by small lamps, and the ground was carpeted red. Wooden panals covered the walls, each engraved with a picture of some epic battle or mythological god. A potted shrub seemed to sit at every pillar in this hall way. It was kind of like some fancy hotel, in a way.

They walked down the hallway, Tenchi leading, Zack bringing up the rear. They reached the double doors in no time. Tenchi paused for a moment and took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. He pushed the double doors open and walked in.

It was a large office that was decorated in much the same manner. Along the wall opposite of Tenchi were windows over looking the city. A long table with many decorative chairs placed at it ran down its sides to the very end, where a large chair was turned away from him.

"Ah... So you came. Excellent.." Came a voice from in front of the chair.

"Give us back Sasami!" Ayeka yelled running forward and cutting to the chase.

"Hm?" Came the voice again. The chair swivelled around. A tall man with well built features sat before them. His eyes were slender and were an unforgiving red, but wore a smile that seemed friendly. He had a small trimmed beared and mustache and his jet black hair was slicked back. On his nose sat a small pair of spectacles. "My, my. I've always heard that Jurai's royal family was very reserved. But by looking at you, princess, and the way you just addressed me, I guess what I've heard was wrong."

Ayeka stepped back in shock and anger at the response. It was not what he said, but how he said it. He did not even feel a bit threatened by her tone of voice or the fact that he was outnumbered 8 to one. He stood up, his white suit shimmered in the soft glow of the lights. He adjusted his maroon tie. "Allow me to introduce myself first. My name is Raphael Vasquez. I am the son of the Famous ..." Vasquez began, but was interrupted.

"Oh cut the crap. We want Sasami back, so hand her over to us, now!" Ryoko said, this time stepping out in front. Everyone followed up behind her.

"Haha... everyone does seem to be rather impatient today. Very well, lets get down to business." Vasquez said sitting down again.

"Yes, lets. The idea is very simple. You give us back Sasami right now, and we will let you off without a beating. If not, your in a world of hurt." Ryoko said slamming her fist into the table. Where she hit instantly splintered and caused a crack down the center of the table.

"Oh, really? That was a nice table you just cracked...Anyways, If you haven't noticed, there are no guards out there. And neither did I check for weapons, which you all obviously have in your pockets or something there of. You really think that if I really thought of you as a threat, I would have let you walk in here armed to the teeth? I expected you to be much more perceptive, Ryoko." Vasquez said cooly. He kicked his feet up on the table and folded his hands across his chest. Ryoko gave him a funny angered look. She didnt know what to make of this Vasquez charecter.

"H-how'd you know my name?" Ryoko asked.

"Oh I pretty much know all of you. I know about the princess Ayeka there, and you Ryoko. I know that short red head is the great scientist Washu, and those two ladies in the back there are the 'ex-GP' officers Kiyone and Mihoshi, who are now assassins. I also know that Dracadian there is the Emmisary of the Order of the Blaze. Only one I don't know about really is that boy there. Some lot you sure did get yourself involved with." Vasquez replied. He was taunting them with the way he spoke and acted. "You see, I am the most powerful man on this side of the planet. Im the leader of the Obsidian Jaguars, or in simpler terms, Im the leader of one of the last two syndicates on this planet."

"Yeah, so what. You going to cooperate or are you going to just shoot your mouth off." Ryoko said.

"Well, arent you the tough one. If you think Im all bark and no bite, come at me. But keep in mind, even if you do manage to defeat me, you will lose her." He said cooly as a sadistic smile began to cross his face.

"What do you plan to do to her?" Washu said, taking over Ryoko's position of authority.

"Ah someone with a head on their shoulders now? As I was saying, I hold the trump card. I alone know where your dear Sasami is. And you will get her back, if you do something for me in return." the white suit replied.

"What is it you want?" Washu questioned.

"As I said, I am the most powerful man on THIS side of the planet. But thats not good enough. I want complete control of the planet. Oh sure, theres this 'provisional government' that's supposed to be in charge, but that's merely a figure head. The real power lies with the syndicates. I have over the last 15 years driven out 3 other syndicates by myself. And It was no easy task, might I add. But my last opponent is a strong one, and it seems nothing I do is actually working. But now the opportunity presents itself." explained Vasquez.

"So you want complete control of the planet for Sasami. Meaning you want us to take out your adversary for you." Washu said.

"Not quite, but close. My opponent has slowly been gaining strength due to one thing. There's a competition called the Battle Royale. Its held here on this planet, and is open to anyone brave enough and strong enough to join. It's a 1 on 1 death match. The last man standing wins. Well, my opponent's syndicate has had one of their boys, to be exact, the son of their leader, enter and win that competition for the last 4 years. Because of his raw strength and vitality, he has given the image of power and superiority over our syndicate here. We cannot beat him. In fact, their winning streak is causing us to lose support within the syndicate. I don't want that. So the idea is simple, I will have you kill him in this competition, under the name of our syndicate, the Obsidian Jaguars. This crushing blow will prove that we can destroy our opponent with ease." Vasquez said.

"But how will that cause the defeat of the other syndicate. Its all meaningless." Kiyone said.

"Not quite. I could have at any time 'removed' their leader, but with knowledge that this strong, powerful, and intelligent individual with great ambition would come to power, it would have meant more trouble. With his death, and then the soon death of their leader that will follow, internal panic and strife will take hold, as smaller crime bosses try to take charge and they will fall apart, leaving us in charge." came the answer.

"And what if we refuse?" Tenchi asked with anger.

"Oh, you really don't have a choice in the matter. As I said, I only know where she is. If you don't accept, she will suffer the consequences. And they are very steep consequences. There are a lot of people on this planet would like to meet a Juraian princess, especially at her 'young and tender' age. If you're lucky, you may be able to buy her off the market in a few years, if she's still alive then." Vasquez grinned sadistically. "So what is your answer?"

"If you lay ONE hand on her, I swear that Ill..Ill...Ill" Ayeka began to stammer.

"Or you'll what? You don't seem to realize that there's nothing you can do! As long as Im the only one who knows of her where abouts. Besides, If its not people on this planet that wont defile her, Im sure the Juraian military might have some interest in her." Vasquez shot back.

"You sick bastard!" Zack said taking off the pouch and reaching inside it, but Tenchi held up his arm to signal him to stop.

"Fine, we'll do it. When does this competition begin and where?" Tenchi asked.

"Very good choice. To sum it up, it starts in 2 days. Ill send information to your ships later. Just remember that if you attempt to screw me over in any way, or if you fail, she pays the price. So don't fail." Vasquez said, as he swivelled his chair around.

"You just remember to stick to your end of the deal." Tenchi said.

"Don't worry about my end. I may have unorthodox ways of getting people to do my bidding, but when I make a deal, it's a deal." Vasquez said without even turning around. Tenchi turned and left. Everyone followed him out in silence.

When they were back outside and leaving through the main gates, Ayeka ran up to him. "You really arent going to go join that competition. Isn't there something else that can be done?"

"No. He was serious. I could see it in his eyes." Tenchi said. His expression was serious and worried at first, but changed to light hearted and warm. "Besides, I don't plan on killing anyone in the competition. Right, Washu?"

Washu smiled and winked at him. "Thats right. Ill fix something special up for this. Don't want to take any chances that someone wont play dirty themselves and hurt Tenchi there either."

They flew back the way they came and reached the hanger again. They docked with the Zenith and got out, headed back to the Yagami in a bit of an awkward but grim silence about the horrible turn of events, and went to sleep, not saying much of anything.

Morning came, though no one could really tell since the way the planet was. Everyone resumed what they were doing the day before, but with much haste. Anxiety was running high through everyone, for a few reasons. The messenger from Vasquez was supposed to arrive very soon, and the trouble Sasami was in and the delicate matter of the situation, everyone didnt know what to think of it. The day passed and almost no word came from the syndicate leader.

"Damn, maybe that bastard was lying to us after all." Ryoko said, beginning to become very irritated at the delay.

"Im sure he will send us the information." Tenchi said in a low but reassuring voice.

"Well, he sure is taking his damn time..." Ryoko said punching a steel post in the Yagami's make shift hanger/ home. It creaked and bent under the force of the punch. "If he doesn't hurry up soon, Im going to go pay him a little visit and show hi..."

A buzzing noise came from the outside.

"Hm, looks like someone just dropped something off..." Kiyone said looking out a nearby window. Tenchi went down to get it and came back up. It was information regarding the tournament that Vasquez promised to send them.

"Lets see... starts the day after tomorrow...10 million Jurai cash prize among other things..." Washu said examining the document sent.

"So what are the rules and what not. Wheres it at?" Zack said, attempting reading over Washu's shoulder.

"Well, its pretty much as Vasquez said. A 1 on 1 death match. The fighting arenas change over the coarse of the competition. There are no real rules other then you must either kill your opponent or throw him out of the ring, which is probably certain death anyways. Doesnt say much more then that. It will be hosted at the 'Colosseum'? Interesting. Register before the first match. 1000 Jurai by in per contestant. It seems that this is also being hosted by large companies, that I assume are controlled by the syndicates." Washu said reading the small fine print on the document. "Hm, more questions and strange hypocrisies..."

"Indeed. This planet is a strange set of circumstances in itself." came the familiar voice from the corner of the room.

"Indeed it does...wait what! Who are you and where'd you come from?" Washu said just realizing the presence of the new voice.

"Hey its that barkeep from the other night..." Kiyone said.

"You really should have listened to my advice, Detective Kiyone." the barkeep said, giving a small sigh. "Unfortunately, the situation has now gotten much worse."

"Just who are you, mister?" Ryoko said in a hostile voice. She recalled the barkeep as well, and his sudden presence made him seem even out of place in this mixed up world they were on.

"I am the section leader of the Espionage and Covert Operations for the Galaxy Police. You can call me, Mr. E for short."

(What a fitting name...) Washu said under her breath.

"What do you want with us?" Zack said.

"I've come to help you get Sasami back. It is important that the Royal Family comes to no harm at a time like this in the Galaxy." replied Mr. E.

"So, the GP knows about the coup and about us and all?" Kiyone asked.

"Yes, our section knows all about the happenings on Jurai, but we cant interfere. GP is an independent organization from that of Jurai, and we have our own affairs to attend to as well. This planet is one of them. Thats a story, however for another time. I've come to tell you to just get ready to leave. Our boys will find her in no time and bring her to you safely." answered Mr. E.

"No, I don't think so, Mr. E. I had a feeling that there was more to this planet then meets the eyes." Washu said somewhat defiantly. Mr. E gave her a funny look and she elaborated. " I knew when I set my eyes upon the skies coming here. Those emp clouds above us are not a natural phenomenon on this planet, and the way this planet was set up to screams colony. Just what is your business with this planet. Why do they use Jurai if they hate the Jurai government so much? And those electrical towers off about 10 miles from the edges fo towns, what are those? Are they what I think they are?"

Mr. E smiled warmly. "I guess I could not try to hide anything from the greatest scientist in the universe then, Miss Washu. Alright, Ill give you a summed up version then. Those towers are indeed what you think they are, but not quite. About 1200 years ago, a project started by the Jurai Royal family to expand the control of the Juraian Empire and create more planets that could host life for populating. The technology for terra forming then was not so advanced. The ideas for the terra formers were the ideas and schematics you had made before your disappearance. Unfortunately, we did not know how to assemble the machines and they were built incorrectly. They functioned fine on most planets through out this region of the galaxy, and the process began smoothly. About 1000 years ago, the planet had been colonized and cities were rising up all over. But unfortunately, the terra formers malfunctioned on virtually all the planets, each giving harsh effects to the atmospheres. On this planet, it was a permanent later of cloud cover that generated small electromagnetic pulses. This made communication and control of the planet very difficult. It was soon taken over by 8 syndicates, and the planet began to degrade. The system which everything was set up continued to be used, such as the currency and what not."

"8 Syndicates? But Vasquez said he took down 3..." Mihoshi said, trying to figure this out herself, but no avail.

"He did, in a way. But anyways. Colonists continued to live on the planet even under the control of the syndicates. The 8 syndicates stayed that way, and Jurai abandoned the planet finally, leaving it to our care. We began operations to take it back under our control and it worked. 700 years came and we gained control and 5 of the syndicates disappeared. The other 3 disbanded to form the provisional government that we see today. Not everyone in the syndicates had good intentions. Among some of the leaders, the idea was that if they could not control the planet through the syndicates, they would through the government. So the government was corrupt in some places, but over all, kept the peace and enforced the laws. Order seemed to be restored. Unfortunately, this peace would only last 200 or so years. The syndicates went underground while more colonists came to the strange planet. They were gaining power and favor among small businesses and what not, and then a revolution you could say occured. The syndicates returned in a temporary alliance and through out the control the GP had over the planet. That wasteland above the planet has some of the remains of the battle we had over the planet. The last 5 syndicates ahve since had control over the planet, and dug in. My job and my division had a simple task, undermine the workings of each syndicate. Which we have been for the last 15 years. After the fall of the second to last, we would forcibly destroy the last syndicate, but we havent had much success with getting the last syndicates to fall." finished up Mr. E.

"Oh so does that mean your not really a bartender?" Mihoshi asked. Mr. E just kind of looked at her in a funny way. "What? What is it.?"

"Anyways, the best thing you can do is be prepared to leave at a moments notice, but in the mean time, do enter the fight." Mr. E said.

"Im going to take it you want us to enter the fight because it may make one of the two syndicates fall." Kiyone said.

"You are as good as they say you are, Detective. Anyways, yes. We will find the princess in no time, but your fight with them could prove to our usefulness as well. Please enter the fight to keep leading Vasquez along."

"We don't have much of a choice, as it is..." Tenchi said. "We will enter the competition, and fight it to win. If you fail to rescue her, we still may have to go through with Vasquez's wishes."

"Very wise of you, but we will not fail. Here." Mr. E said handing a disk to Washu. "This is information on an escape route. Once Sasami is found and we rescue her, speed is the essence. You wont have long until Vasquez has his men come for you. He will kill you all if he does find you."

"Don't worry, we've been through worse scrapes." Washu said smiling. Mr. E finally took his leave, once again warning them to be careful.

"Ill go register for this tomorrow, then." said Tenchi.

"Ill go as well." Zack said

"Same." Ryoko also said.

"Im also going to sign up." Ayeka said.

"Ayeka, we cant have you sign up too. It would be to dangerous." Tenchi said.

"She's my sister. I have to fight." Ayeka said with stubborn determination.

Tenchi looked at her, not sure what to say next. She was right, but she was also placing herself in danger. He did not want any harm to come to her, or for that matter, anyone else in the group.

"Don't worry, Tenchi. Ill make sure everything turns out fine. Besides, the more who enter, greater the chances of success" Washu said smiling.

"T-Thank you, Washu." Ayeka said, happy to have support from the scientist.

"Well, alright then. Lets all get some shut eye. I want to get well rested up and prepared for it tomarrow." Zack said. They all agreed to his proposal and went their ways. The lights dimmed and another long night of tranquility came. Ayeka, however, sat awake, worried about Sasami. It was not the same not having her around. She rolled over and tried to get some sleep, though it seemed it would not come easy for her. 


	9. Ch 9 No Need For Battle Royale Part I

NEW CHAPTER! OH YEAH! Well ok. , another chapter for the FANFICTION WHICH IS BECOMING A NOVEL!. Not really. But its kinda relaxing writing this. Which is why I continue this :D. Anyways, Hope you all like it, hate it, have some opinion of it. Always great. Ah well. This chapter will have ACTION!. Cause its enough plot twists and what not. Time for a good ol fashion arse woopin by our lovable heros! Well maybe. I dunno. Have to read to find out. :D

Ch. 9 - No Need For Battle Royale (Part I)

"Geez, this place is crowded." Ryoko said, annoyed at all the shoving and pushing.

Pinch

"HEY! YOU BASTARD!" She swung around and flattened a grungy man standing behind her, who happened to let his hands wander. "I SWEAR, this place is full of creeps."

"I know what you mean..." Ayeka said, keeping close to Tenchi. "But you fit right in, Ryoko. Don't you feel at home?"

"No, but with that get-up, Im sure you feel right at home" Ryoko shot back.

"You want to take this outside, Ryoko?" Ayeka said stopping in the middle of the crowd.

"No! Lets do it right here and now!" Ryoko said, her anger swelling up. "Gah!"

Washu hit both of them over the head to knock some sense in them. "I don't believe it. Even in the most dire situations, you two still manage to fight. Will you two grow up for once. Were here to get a job done."

"Hey who are you to talk? Your just going to be watching us four fight it out" Ryoko said, rubbing her head. Washu grabbed her by the ear and pulled her down. "Ow!"

"Now listen here, young lady, IM going to be on the sidelines so nothing bad happens any of you, not to mention I have to check in with Kiyone and Mihoshi every now and then." Washu said with an evil smile spread across her face. "Now you be good, and listen to your mother for once."

She let go of her, and Ryoko, stood upright, now rubbing her ear. (Didnt have to go and yank on it, you know..)

"Oh, ho ho! Yes, Ryoko, listen to your mother..Ow!" Ayeka started off.

"That goes for you too, Ayeka" Washu said hitting across the head again. She looked at her feet in shame.

"Uh, Hey. I don't mean to be rude and all, but you think we could get a move on?" Zack said, cutting into the little ordeal a bit to late. "Uh, yeah. Were kinda making a line..."

He pointed behind them, and a crude line was forming, full with pirates, bandits, thieves and everything of the sort. They made quick to get a move on, since they didnt really want to cause anymore trouble then needed.

Tenchi had already went ahead of them and checked in with Zack while the girls were arguing, but Zack went back to get them. Tenchi was escorted to a small room with grey stone walls. A few benches with cloth and cabinets were placed about the room. He sat down on a near by bench, and waited. He looked out a widel 'window' into the arena. It was large and circular with high walls separating it from the stands from what it seemed, but a square elevated platform stood in the center about 20 or 30 yards from the ground. It was not connected to any sides of the arena itself. Crowds gathered around the edges of the arena. It seemed that the arena was cut off into sections. Around the base line, where chain link fence was, there were no real seats, or none that Tenchi could see. It was just the mobs. On the second level, there were seats and seemed to be more spacious and there was no chain link fence seperating the viewers from the arena, just a railing. On the third level, is the most luxurious of the 3. It was also the smallest, but well taken care of. Pretty Hand maids catered to this class of the population, which seemed like officials and Rich business men. It also happened to have the best view of the arena. The people were not all from the same planet either, as their attire changed here and there. Tenchi could see Vasquez up in the top row.

"Thats all the corrupt officials from everyone in this end of the universe sit. The fight is also a bit of a gambling event, as people gamble their money on who will be the winner." Washu said sitting down next to Tenchi. He wasnt all that surprised, because he was in a more serious mood about what was about to take place. "Of coarse, for them, it's a sure bet on the man were after today."

"Who are we after?" Tenchi asked.

"Vasquez wants us to take down the competitor under the name Talaquine. I havent even seen the guy yet. I think hes probably got his own waiting room and what not, with his winning streak and connections." Washu informed Tenchi. "If that bartender is keeping to his word, then we may not even have to be in this competition for long. Unfortunately, were required to fight atleast 1 match."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Tenchi said, breaking away from the cold stare he was giving Vasquez.

"I don't know if its just our luck or someone's doing, but Zack has the fourth fight in the competition, and the rest of you aren't scheduled to fight today. And Zack's fight is with Talaquine." Washu said. She stood up and approached the window. The first fight was about to begin, and the crowds were already becoming riled up. Tenchi had a look of worry on his face. "Don't worry, Zack's not going to kill him. I've got it all thought out, so that Vasquez will think Talaquine is dead, that is until we get Sasami back."

Tenchi smiled. (Always one step ahead,) He thought to himself. Ryoko and Ayeka crashed through the door just then, with a new fight in hand. Zack just strolled in casually with his hands behind his head.

"Im surprised you can even live in the same house with those two sometimes..." Zack said, watching the two girls fight. Tenchi sighed, as Washu came over and 'took care of business' between the two girls.

The matches seemed to go by quick. And they were brutal. There were Fatalities, or near fatalities already in the first 3 matches. To fall off the platform was the only way out of the fight, and even that wasnt a guarantee of living, as the pit which the platform hovered over tended to fill up with often deadly things.

"They certainly do fight dirty... Im disgusted by this barbaric behavior" Ayeka said, often avoiding the sight of bloodied arena.

"Blood lust and gambling, two factors that bring in millions to those who host this. Its about the money in the end. Life isn't a factor to them. Its how much they can pull in." Washu said.

"I do hope that bartender dude, Mr. E, is telling the truth about GP's plan to take this place over." Zack said. The door to the waiting room opened and a young pretty girl in a black silk dress with two tough looking guards hovering behind her came in.

"Its time for your match, Mr. Zack. Follow me please." She said in a soft pretty voice.

"Wish me luck" Zack said smiling and giving a thumbs up. He followed her out and they went down the hall way from the room. After a few moments, he could be seen at the bottom edge of the floor of the arena, with the girl and bodyguards. They stepped on a small elevator which brought them to the center platform. Zack stepped out onto it, and the elevator descended once again.

He shifted his weight and observed the platform. It was square with nothing on it but dust and some boulders. It was very large as well, when a person actually got to it, 40 or 50 yards across with the boulders placed randomly about the arena. Zack assumed they were to provide cover, to make it more interesting. He took off the long cloak he was wearing and shifted his weight again.

He wasnt wearing his Earth clothes, but Dracadian battle armor. For his Order, the armor was constructed of a 'trench coat' that hung to his knees that was a crimson red in color. Shoulder protectors were fastened onto it as well. A belt helped bring it close around his waste. Shin high boots, with ornate designs that both gave who ever viewed them a feeling of aw, as well as fear. Long 'pants' that were dark brown, almost black, in color that had streaks of red down the sides met the shoes and tucked into them, A Vest and 'shirt' was underneath the Coat. He wore gloves and guards on his for arms that had daggers strapped to the undersides of each one. The gloves were studded on the knuckles as well. He wore a red head band tied around in the back, on the front, was a small red jewel that emitted a fiery glow. Similar looking stones were also visible on the back of his hands, behind the studs. A small brooch was clipped onto his right chest, with it a strange symbol and a flame with a sword.

He took a few deep breaths to calm himself, because the whole scenario was beginning to getting him hyped up as well as nervous. (I wont lose this match...) He said to himself. He began to feel invigorated again by the crowd. It was different, to say the least. The crowds yelling and screaming, The bright lights from the ceiling, somewhat blinding, and the feel of power and knowledge that in a few moments time, he was going to be fighting for his life. It invigorated him to some extent. He took some more deep breaths to get his head on straight.

Across the ring, his competitor came. Zack squinted a bit to focus in on his opponant. The crowd began to scream and chant Talaquine. (He doesn't seem like much,) Zack thought to himself. And he didnt seem like much. He wasnt to tall, maybe 5 foot 10, and wasnt extremely muscular. He had well built features of the typicial lady killer, slender pale grey eyes, semi long blue hair, angular face, the works. He didnt seem to wear much armor either. He dressed in a Black tank top and some long jeans, and some sturdy shoes. The only things out of the ordinary were his belt and arms. He wore gloves as well, with guards on each arm, but they were more mechanical and sophisticated. The belt was also mechanical in nature. A cube floated into the middle of the arena between the two combatants.

"There are no rules. Winner is the last man standing in the arena. The Fight begins..NOW!" droned the floating cube and then flying off. Zack darted out and made a leap for the nearest boulder to hide behind. He ducked in close, excepting there to be an explosion of some sort, but none came. He peaked from hiding. The roar of the crowd seemed far and distant to him. He was to much into the situation to hear them. Talaquine was just slowly moving around from his spot and approaching Zack. He leaped out from his hiding place, and summoned a bit of his energy to make a 'fire sword'.

"Aren't you a little bit far from home, Dracadian?" Said Talaquine when he was within voice range of Zack. The Dracadian didnt pick up the slightest stutter or bit of hesitation in his voice. Talaquine seemed totally calm. "Now why would a Dracadian come out to some grungy death match? Isn't there a war you have to fight?"

"Is that all you can do? Taunt your opponent? What are you? All bark and no bite?" Zack shot back keeping his ground. His voice seemed to falter slightly, as he was nervous that Talaquine seemed so calm about everything.

"Oh, there is no rush, really. I just like getting to know my victims, that's all." Talaquine said with a smirk.

"Yeah, well you can get to know me after I beat you!" Zack said, taking a quick slide to his right and lunged off angle at Talaquine. He smiled with satisfaction, knowing his blade would not miss, but it did. He caught himself and steadied. Talaquine was gone from sight. A gust of air from his right, and a hard jab from his back. Zack moved with the jab, to reduce the force of it, although it still threw him off. He readied to charge Talaquine again, but he wasnt there. Another small gust of wind, but this time from behind him. He swung quickly to his right, where Talaquine was. He gracefully dodged the swing, and hit Zack hard in the stomach when he was left open. He doubled over, but picked himself up quick and resumed a fighting stance. Talaquine just stood a few yards away from him, calm and composed. Not even showing the slightest bit of fatigue or frustration. He was actually smiling, like he was enjoying every moment.

"What the hell are you, some kind of ghost?" Zack said, wiping the sweat from his face.

"Maybe" He said calmly, still smiling.

"Well lets see what your made of ghost" Zack said throwing a small bolt of fire from one of his hands to Talaquines left. He shielded himself for a moment, taken off guard by the quickness of the surprise attack. Zack took his chance and charged at him. He swung viciously at Talaquine, nailing a few good hits on him. He charged another ball of fire in his free hand and sent it at Talaquine with great speed. But Talaquine simply caught it with this gloves. His guards glowed and made a small vree sound as he threw it back at Zack. He dodged it, not wanting to bother with reabsorbing his own fire ball. Talaquine took this chance and struck Zack. He disengaged his fire sword and began to block Talaquine's lightning fast punches and kicks with his guards. One or two hits broke through every now and then, sending a painful blow to Zack. He fell back a bit, and lunged at Talaquine with might. He hit him hard across the face, a clean right hook. Talaquine stumbled backwards a bit. Zack took this opportunity to finish his stunned adversary off, and summoned his fire sword again. He charged at him and jumped into the air to bring his sword down on Talaquine with all his might. A glow of blinding light filled the center of the platform. The crowd died down a bit, but roared when it was gone. Zack was shaking, using quite a bit of his strength, but to no avail to hit Talaquine with his 'fire sword'. Talaquine held it with just one hand, and showed no signs of struggling. He smiled his usual smile.

"D-damn, what the hell?" Zack said, beginning to buckle as he tried using his own weight to force it down on Talaquine. "Impossible!"

"Ah, so your from the Order of the Blaze." Talaquine said taking note of Zack's brooch. "How pathetic. I expected more from them. Not quite the Aphotic Epoch or Guardian Cross, but still. Oh well, play times over. It was a fun match."

The guard on Talaquine's arm that was holding Zack's sword began to hum, and glow. Zack tried to break away by dispersing his sword, but couldnt. It was as if he was stuck. Talaquine used his free arm and pulled something off his belt. He held up a small blue marble to Zack.

"M-my power! W-what the hell are you doing?" Zack said still trying to free himself from his own blade as he felt his own energy being syphoned away from him.

"Do you know what this is?" Talaquine said, not evening hearing Zack. "This is compressed liquid nitrogen. Very cold stuff. You do know what it does to your particular breed of Dracadian, don't you?"

Zack knew very well what it would do, and struggled harder to free himself, but could not. It was like he was petrified.

"It makes your skin, and then your muscles, contract so tight that they tear away from themselves," Talaquine droned on. "But it doesnt happen in split seconds. It happens relatively slowly, and is from what I hear, the very worst way a fire breed can die. Lets see if thats true, then."

He smile broadened with his sadistic intentions, and he took the gem and stood back at full arms length. "I guess this is good bye."

Talaquine pulled his arm back to throw it at Zack's feet. As he did, however, Zack used all this might to break free, and through Talaquine off balance. He let go of Zack's blade as he through it, but it was not directly under him, but in front of him slightly. The marble cracked and burst. Compressed liquid shot out at Zack.

"GRRRYEAAAAAAAAAAH" Came a cry from the cloud of vaporized liquid nitrogen.

"And that takes care of that." Talaquine said brushing himself off. "Eh?"

The gas cleared, and Zack stood there, wobbly as fire dissipated from around him. The ground underneath him was smoldering and gave a glow. Gashes along were visible on his arms face and body. He fell down onto his knees, breathing heavily, half dazed, bright red beginning to seep from his wounds. He looked up at Talaquine with anger and defiance.

"Oh, very clever. Now that's the kind of show I'd expect from the Blaze. Throwing up a wall of fire around you to counter the liquid nitrogen. Very clever." Talaquine said, half marveling, half taunting Zack and his efforts. "But unfortunately, to sustain a firewall like that must leave you pretty drained."

He walked over casually and picked up Zack by his neck with ease. Zack winced as a tremor of pain surged through his body from the torn wounds. The gemstone on his headband was fading in intensity, now only a faint glow. "Well, I wanted to put on a show for our generous audiance, but I cant do that anymore it seems. I think Ill just crush your neck and let it be that."

He began to squeeze Zack's neck with ease. Zack struggled to release himself from Talaquin's vice grip like choke. His vision began to become fuzzy and dim. (I guess this is the end of the road...Cant believe ... I...Lost) Zack thought to himself as he just about lost conscience. But the arena rocked violently all of a sudden, and Zack was thrown from Talaquines grip. The edge which they happened to be standing on gave way. Talaquine jumped back from the crumbling edge onto a more secure position on the platform. Zack fell with the boulders and dust of the falling debris. Things seemed to move around him in slow motion. He smiled and closed his eyes. A crashing thunder filled his ears and then there was only silence. 


	10. Ch 10 No Need For Battle Royale Part II

Ah more fo this madness! Im already kinda anxious to get t further chapters. I mean, some of the ideas in my head, though corny, are kinda begging me to hurry up. But you cant rush genius:D

Meh, I just kind of wish some people would do the same as me. Theres a lot of good Fan fictions on this site, but they're only half done. Its kinda disappointing that people don't finish the work that they started, cause a lot of it is really good stuff. Meh, Oh well! Time to get a move on!

Ch. 10 - No Need For Battle Royale (Part II)

"..."

"...Zaaack..."

"Whos there?"

"...Zaaaaaaaaaaack..."

"Huh, who is it! Who's there. Someone Answer me!"

"...I've found you Zack. I've finally found you..."

"What is this, some kind of twisted dream?"

"...I've found you finally... Soon Zack soon..."

"Soon what?"

" Just soon Zack...Im comin' for you... Im coming to get you... Soon Zack soon..."

"Who the hell are you..."

"YOUR NIGHTMARE"

A large hand descended down on Zack in the dark realm and grabbed him. It was crushing him to death. Nothing he could do. It was as if he was paralyzed from the neck down. Couldnt even struggle. A maniacal laugh echoed throughout the emptyness.

"GAH! Heh...heh...heh.." Zack sat up right in a flash, his glowing red eyes wide open. He didnt like the feeling of being helpless. It frightened him. After calming down a bit, he realized he wasnt dead, but in a small white walled room. He was laying in a bed, and a machine made funny beeping noises every so often sat next to his bed. An IV was attached to him among other small devices and little buttons. "Gah..erk."

A small soft green light began to flash slowly. Zack gripped his sides as a pain shot up through them. His actions caused his sides to hurt even more he found out unfortunately. The young Dracadian was still bandaged, and some of the bandages started turning a light red and let out a small hissing sound. Zack winced at the pain. Just then, the door to the small 'hospital room' opened. Washu stepped in.

"Ah finally awake. How are you feeling?" she said reading the small machine next to his bed and then checking him over herself. "I suggest you lie back, since your not fully recovered."

Zack lied back on the bed again, still feeling the sting of his stupid actions. He felt sluggish and weak now. "Boy, this seems mighty familiar..."

"Oh it does, doesnt it." Washu said now standing up and remembering their first encounter. "Wasnt all that long ago, either. Unfortunately, I didnt bring that equipment with me, so I kind of had to rely on more primitive methods of healing you back to full life while I came up with better things."

"Why not just create a sub space door to the lab?" Zack asked. "...Hey wait a sec. You were taking care of me! When'd you become a doctor?"

"Oh! Im an Angel Of Mercy!" Washu said, grinning slyly. Zack's face turned to worry. "Ah, don't worry. Anyways, funny thing is, with the emp cloud, I cant create a sub space door to my lab, and I hadnt really thought about it a whole lot when we were out in space."

"You mean you let it slip your mind?" Zack said, in slight shock and frustration.

"I May be the biggest genius in the whole universe, but Im not perfect you know." Washu said applying a bit of pressure on a sore spot. Zack got the hint.

He let out a sigh when she stopped pressing him. "How's the competition coming along?"

"Theres still no word from Mr. E, so we've had to continue it. Ryoko, Tenchi, and Ayeka have all made it up quite far in the competition. No losses, just quite a few bruises. Been managing to spare the lives of those who fought against them as well. For the most part, Ryoko and Tenchi have had sweeping victories, though Ayeka is struggling a bit. She's not as used to combat as the other two, but shes catching on." Washu explained.

"If you're here, who's watching the fight?" Zack asked.

"No scheduled fight today. It's a small rest period due to the last episode Ryoko had while fighting. I've got one thing to ask you, though." she replied, starting to get serious. "I could not really get a fix on Talaquine this whole time while here, even when he's fighting. So I don't know his strengths or weaknesses. Its like he has something throwing me off, so I cant check him out. I need some input from your fight. Did you notice anything strange?"

Zack thought for a moment. He could remember the ring collapsing, and him falling, and the time up to the fight, but for the most part everything during the fight was a blur. He figured that the shock of losing the fight has caused him to sub-consciencely forgotten the actual fight. He just shook his head.

"Oh, alright. You just get rest now. Ill check on you in a while again." Washu said, disappointed and walked out. Zack sighed and let his heavy eyelids fall over his eyes. Sleep seemed to come easy.

Another day past by on the dark planet, though the only way one could tell was by a clock or their own 'feeling'. Zack woke up to the sounds of shouting and screaming from the arena. He guessed that he must have been in an infirmary near the arena, though it was probably a small one, since this was a death match type tournament. No need for the extra beds and space, as very few would survive. He sat up again. His sides didnt hurt this time, and decided to press his luck further by getting out of his bed. As soon as he came in contact with the floor, he had to brace himself as his legs were weak. After a moment, he managed to reach a single crutch which happened to be conveniently located in the nearest corner of the room. With it, he could walk somewhat up right and move around a bit. He decided to look for something better to wear, since the hospital gown was a bit 'open' in the back. He found that his battle armor was torn up and somewhat ruined, and had been haphazardly been thrown on a small chair. However, a better set of clean and folded clothes sat on the chair next to it. He slipped into these, after a few minutes of groaning and slow movement, trying to not agitate his wounds any more then they were by his constant moving.

After finally getting ready, he opened the door and walked down the hall a bit towards the sounds. After wandering down a few halls for about a half hour, he finally reached the main hall which he came through. From there Zack made his way back to the waiting room he had stayed at. The door was of coarse unlocked and Washu was sitting down cross legged on one fo the benches while Ryoko was leaning up against a wall, arms folded across her chest. They looked up to see him.

"Well, if it isnt sleeping beauty." Ryoko teased. She teleported over to Zack and gave him a hard pat on the shoulder. Zack cringed. "You took a beating against that Talaquine guy. You sure your ok enough to be about walking?"

She quit giving him pats on the shoulder, and Zack rubbed it to try to sooth the pain. "Yes, I am fine, thank you... Wheres Ayeka and Tenchi?"

"Those two are getting something to eat for all of us, while we wait for Ryoko's turn." Washu said. "They should be back in a few minutes."

The door opened up behind them again, and the same lady that had asked for Zack to come with her had stepped through the door. Upon seeing Zack, she smiled nicely. "Are you feeling better, Mr. Zack?"

Zack nodded, not sure what to make of her question.

"Thats good. Miss Ryoko, it is your turn to fight now. Please follow me. Good day, Mr. Zack." And with that, the young lady left down the hall. The two body guards that always seemed to accompany her waited at the door for Ryoko. She had a look of disappointment on her face.

"Aw, guess I have to fight on an empty stomach." Ryoko said as she walked out.

"Who's she fighting?" Zack inquired when the door closed.

"Some guy by that went by the handle Machina. I hadnt had time to really get any information about any of the higher competitors because I was tending to you. (You're a real pain sometimes, you know that...). Anyways, Im starting to get doubts about this competition. You're the only one out of us 4 that had really fought Talaquine. Other then that, its been for the most part a bunch of low lifes and nobodies we've been beating up and saving. I mean thats great, cause it buys time, but it puts us more at risk of losing too. Luckily, we havent been in a fight we couldnt win, like yours." Washu explained. "This whole thing seems like a set up."

"Has Vasquez said anything?" Zack asked again.

"No, and thats the worst part. I know he's playing us like pawns, but what is he getting at?" Washu said trying to think things over. She looked back out the window again. "Oh, looks like Ryoko's on. Hmph, shes over confident as ever..."

Zack looked out the window as well. Ryoko was on the elevator platform up to the main fighting platform. The edge that buckled and collapsed was almost like new again, though there were new cross beams and plates under neath that section, unlike before. "What do you mean? How do you know."

Washu just smiled, making Zack even more lost. "By the way, the edge collapsing, that was you wasn't it."

"Mm hmm. I just exploited that little burnt whole you made when you protected yourself from the gas. Not to mention I saved you when from falling to your death."

"I hit the floor, I think, so what do you mean save?" Zack said.

"Oh, they have a dirty habit of making sure no one really survives. They were going to pump the floor with another layer of cold gas so you would die, but they 'malfunctioned' and it didnt happen." she replied. The floating cube which Zack saw at his fight flew down to the platform. "Looks like its about to start."

Washu summoned her holo-computer again, typed in a few things, and a monitor appeared in front of them. It was an over head view of the fighting platform, allowing Washu and Zack to see the whole fight with ease. Zack didnt bother asking how she got the view.

Ryoko stood in her spot, wearing her black and red 'suit' which she customarily wore in situations where she had to fight. She didnt look worried, or for that matter feel worried. She yawned a bit. (Oh boy...Another punk to beat up.) She thought to herself. Across the platform, her competitor stepped on. He was tall and had long lanky arms. He was thin and bald, and seemed like his mid 40s. He wore a pair of thick circular grey glasses that completely covered up his eyes, and were shaded a dark purple so that a person couldn't see his eyes, even if they were up close. He wore a grey jump suit that had purple embroidering along the arms and chest that seemed to cling to him like a second skin almost. It only showed a little slack at the ends of his legs and arms, where plain boots met with the jumpsuit almost seamlessly. Other then that, he seemed to have nothing else on him, except for a belt around his waist that was silver and metallic, a metallic disk on his back, and a small flat piece of metal it seemed on his wrist. (Great, I get to beat up a pencil necked geezer...).

Washu looked at the monitor, and typed some things in to her computer. The screen changed from the usual picture to a thermal view of the arena, and focused in on the tall man. Zack just watched as the scientist was working. She stopped typing all of a sudden and just watched the monitor. The man made a move and did something with his plated wrist. In a seconds time, he was almost indistinguishable from a cloud of yellow and red.

"Thought so..." she aloud. Zack wanted to ask what it was, but still kept with his idea that asking only complicated things more, so he tried to figure it out himself.

(Ryoko...) Washu thought out to Ryoko.

(What?) She responed in a bit of an annoyed voice.

(Don't take him so lightly, hes not what he seems.) Washu started out.

(Sigh. Why do you keep doing this? You think I cant handle them?) Ryoko sent back telepathically.

(Doing what? Telling you their read outs?) Washu sent back.

(Yeah. I could've handled any of the last guys without your help. I don't think I need help on this one either. Just let me do this by myself. I can handle it.) Ryoko sent back. Washu sensed annoyance and anger in Ryoko's thoughts.

(Im trying to give you an edge, Ryoko. So you don't lose, and no harm comes to you...Ryoko? Ryoko!) Washu yelled telepathically. "Dammit, she cut the link. I swear, that girl sometimes... err, may I help you Zack?"

Zack just stared at her, clueless to what she had been doing. "Uhh, you ok?"

Washu sat there a moment, trying to grasp the point of his question. "Uh, er oh yeah. Im fine. Really..." She said, half heartedly. She returned the monitor image back to the way it was before she messed with it and dismissed her holo-computer. She crossed her arms across her chest and sat with a look of contempt on her face. Zack just ran his hand through his deep red hair trying to figure out what was going on with Washu. She saw him still staring. "What? Im fine I said."

"If you say so..." Zack said as he sat down and watched the monitor.

"The Match Will begin...NOW" Said the small flying cube before flying away in a hurry.

(This is giong to be a cakewalk, even without Washu's 'help') Ryoko thought as she flew out fast drawing her beam sword. The tall man didnt even make the slightest attempt to move out of her way and get some cover. Ryoko brought her beam saber high up so she could bring it down hard on the man known as Machina. When she was within feet of him, ready to strike, did he make his move. Almost out of no where, a giant robotic arm shot out at her, catching Ryoko off guard. She was hit clear across the platform by the force of the hit. She landed and rolled a few feet across the dusty dirt floor, and got picked her self up. She was angry, for both the surprise attack and she getting a bit full of herself about her opponent. She straightened her self out, and flew in for another attack.

Like she had predicted, another mechanical fist and arm seemed to just magically appear out of thin air, but she dodged it and came up fast and hard from near the ground. She thrust her beam saber at Machina, but it was stopped by him. His arm had turned into another mechanical monstrosity fo an arm, saving him from harm. He cocked his off to the side a bit and reached out with his other arm, now forming into a mechanical arm itself as it did. It grabbed by her arm, and brought up and threw her down like a rag doll.

"GAYHH" She let out as she hit the floor hard. It cracked and caved in from the sheer force of her body hitting it. She quickly re-summoned her beam saber and cut her self free from his grip with a hard slash. Machina's arm flew back limp and came down awkwardly at his side. He looked down at it, and after a second he looked back up at ryoko.

"Ha. Take that!" She said, satisfied with her work. But soon her look of accomplishment turned to disbelief. "Huh?"

Machina's arm 'melted' off and reformed into the same mechanical arm again, as if Ryoko's blow had never occured. Soon enough, his body started to become like a hideous machine, as metal plates and parts started to form over his jump suit, till he looked like a man inside of some kind of mech armor.

"Heh, thats impressive. But now with all that weight, your sluggish as hell." Ryoko said, teleporting away to his left and charging with inhuman speeds. The Man Machine just cocked his head funny to this side at her. When she was within striking distance again, she drew back and swung with might. What should have been a clean hit was nothing more then a miss. "Huh, ARG." She let out as her opponent rammed her with speeds that could match hers. She was stunned by the blow and the speed of his evasion. As she layed on the ground for a second, somewhat dazed, Machina walked over. He raised his heavy steel fist and brought it crashing down on Ryoko's head. The ground disintegrated by the force of his punch, but had missed Ryoko as she had come to split seconds before being hit and rolled out of the way. He Looked over at her again, and stood upright and began to stalk very slowly over to her. She got up and charged at him, faster then before. It worked this time because she got within striking distance and just let out a fury of hits on him. He bobbed around and attempted to block her successive strikes, but it was to no use. She just kept pummeling him, and it seemed it finally took its toll.

He began to start twitching and jerking in a repetitive manner, and Ryoko charged up a ball of energy and pressed it against the machine man's chest, and discharged. The violent explosion rocketed him backwards, landing him on his back. It struggled to become upright, but as soon as it was standing, it fell forward and began to spasm. And then just like at the drop of a hat, it stopped all together. Deep gashes and holes marred Machina's body, but no blood flowed. Everything was damaged, everything except for the metal disk on its back. But Ryoko failed to notice, or didnt care. The crowd was wild with excitement. She discharged her beam saber and began to gloat with pride. (That wasn't so hard...) She thought to herself. But a grinding noise caught her attention while she was showing off, and soon a whole fist with a death grip around her body caught her immediate attention. It was crushing her with absurd force, and she tried as hard to free herself from it. Ryoko busted out her beam saber again, and hacked furiously away at the fist, clutching her. It finally let her go and she dropped to the ground. She gasped and winced at the pain her body was suffering from being squeezed so tight. She looked behind her and got to her feet.

"D-damn, don't you know when to die!" Ryoko said with fury and teleported behind it and pierced its back with her beam saber. It punctured the flat metal disk on his back and caused Machina to let our a mighty inhuman roar of pain.

"So thats it, huh? How does THIS feel?" And Ryoko began to twist jerk her blade, damaging more of the disk. The Machine Man cried out more and reached behind himself to grab her, but couldnt reach. "Haha, this is to easy." the space pirate said evilly as she continued to move her beam saber around, furthering the damage the disk was receiving. But she let her guard down once more, and a fist hit her from behind like a battering ram. She hit the dirt hard, and by now was scratched, cut, and bruised, but smiled with confidence.

"Since thats your weakness, your as good as scrap metal now." She said as she got up and rushed him. It wasnt to hard to get behind Machina now. His mechanical body and arms seemed to be evaporating and fizzling in some spots, and in others they shook and jerked randomly. But he wasnt totally out. He swung around with a heavy hand to hit Ryoko when she got behind him. In response, the pirate raised her arm to block it, and took the full force of the blow. It would have been compared to something like a car being hit by a speeding train while crossing the railroad. She screamed in pain as she was thrown back. It walked haphazardly over to her again, with a will to kill her. It jerked and had a hard time walking to her, allowing her ample time to recover and get to her feat. However, her arm that had protected her was now a ruined mess, as it blood flowed from it, and torn skin and armor mingled over it. She let I hang limp at her side and used her other hand to start charging a ball of energy. Ryoko then waited for it to get close. To draw it in with the notion she was weakened by now. She winced in pain.

(Come on, come on!) She said with impatience. It finally had lumbered close enough to her, and raised an arm to hammer her into submission. It dropped with so much force that the whole platform shook and kicked up dust. When the dust cleared, there was nothing but his fist embedded into the dirt. Ryoko teleported right behind him and let her energy go straight into the disk. The ball exploded into a bright flash of light and fire as the disk disintegrated. Machina let out a loud long grown. The armor seemed to just melt away from the man underneath it into dust and he collapsed over, and stopped moving. An electrical current wrapped around the body and it exploded, causing mechanical parts to fly everywhere.

"God, I hate robots..." Ryoko said to herself slumping down against a large pointed boulder. The crowd went wild as the words stating her victory over Machina rang out through the stadium. (Uh, Im not doing that again without Washu's help...) She thought to herself before picking herself up to walk to the elevator to take her off the platform. 


	11. Ch 11 No Need For Battle Royale Part III

TO MUCH DOOM AND GLOOM WILL RUIN YOUR DAY! Actually, depends. Anyways, This is CH. 11. And probably, MAYBE, MOST LIKELY, though no guarentees, The Last Of the Last of Battle Royale Chapters! So in case your getting sick of the mindless 'Parts' of this and actually get back to the story at hand, Just bear with me for one more chapter. Then we can all the doom and gloom you would like! Well Not really, Theres more to come. And I shall finish this madness! It's a promise!

And Holy Hell! School has been a total mind job D: Been preventing me from working on this. Its been what? Two weeks since I last updated. Oh man. School is nearing its end and the madness continues! Actually it got worse! Man, I got like 5 projects total now, and theres only 8 school days left! Man Junior year SUCKS. D: OH WELL. Enough Ranting! On with the story?

Ok then. If you insist! TO THE STORY! (70s batman theme plays)

Ch. 11 - Battle Royale (Part III)

"OW!" Ryoko yelped in pain, as Washu tightened a bandage around Ryoko's shattered arm. "That stings you know..."

"Oh hush... You get what you deserve for not letting me help." Washu smiled weakly. She then clasped a 'cast' around the arm, though it was sleek and metallic. It had a bit of a rubber like material at the elbow and wrist to allow movement, but other then that, it was like a sleek steel tube was put on Ryoko's arm. "Its going to take a day or two for you to be all better. This should hold up till then..."

Tenchi and Ayeka had already gotten back from their little trip to buy some food for a bite to eat while they waited for their fights. Ayeka's was scheduled quite a while after Ryoko's, and Tenchi's happened to be the very first fight the next day. His competitor? Talaquine. But Tenchi was more then ready. Tenchi leaned against a wall watching Washu bandage up Ryoko. Ayeka was at the window gazing out into the crowd's fury; screaming and yelling whenever a competitor took a nasty hit and drew blood. Zack was standing next to Tenchi, a bit confused.

"Alright, so let me get this straight. Ryoko is Washu's 'daughter', because Washu had created her using one of her... (ahem)." Zack replayed back to Tenchi.

"Yup." Was his response.

"And that they share a 'psychic' link with each other, being able to read the others thoughts and minds." Zack said again.

"Yup." came again.

"And that all her powers are there only to further Ryoko's fighting capabilities." Zack said once more.  
"Yup." Came Tenchi's Response.

"Ah, I see..." Zack said, his eyes looking down at the floor, trying to contemplate everything he's just learned. "...So wait, if Ryoko can regenerate wounds, how come she just cant regenerate that."

"That guy, Machina, was a cyborg. However, he was using billions of nano machines to create his armor and perform some of the stunts he did." Washu began to elaborate, now finishing with Ryoko's wounds, and over hearing Zack's question. " He was controlling the machines with that disk on his back for the most part. Which is why when Ryoko damaged it, he armor began to 'sag' and his movements were sluggish."

"I see, but whats that got to do with Ryoko's injury?" Zack asked.

"I was just getting to that," Washu said. "When Ryoko here got back handed by him, some of the nano machines got embedded into the wounds and began to interrupt her healing processes. And now, because of her foolishness, she gets to wear this spiffy armor that will neutralize the nano machines and expedite the healing process."

As she said that, she happened to grab and yank at Ryoko's protected arm to show Zack, but pulled her off the table. She hit the floor, and let out an erk in response.

"Err oops. Sorry." Washu said noticing what she did.

" ...ow..." Ryoko said very weakly. Tenchi walked over to help her off the floor. As he was helping her up, the door to the waiting room opened up, and in stepped the young lady from before.

"Excuse me, Mr. Tenchi, your fight is next." She said in her usual soft lovely voice.

"What? What do you mean his fights next? Mines was next." Ayeka said, turning around and protesting.

"Im sorry, but your fight has been delayed. A change in the schedules has made. Mr. Tenchi's fight with Talaquine now." The young woman replied, no real expression or feeling apparent on her face.

"Who changed it?" Ayeka demanded.

"The change was made at the request of Mr. Domino and Mr. Vasquez. The request was granted, and the fight schedule has been altered slightly. Your fight with Mr. Stetz will be first thing tomorrow morning." The young woman said, not revealing the slightest bit of emotion. Ayeka opened her mouth to protest but was cut off. "However, since were originally scheduled to fight at this time and date, and that the change was made within 6 hours of your fight, then you do hold the right to fight now, even though the competitor has changed. As well as the fact that it seems you are all working as a team, even though this is not a team competition, Ill also give you time to sort this out. Ill be waiting in the hall way when who ever is ready to fight is ready."

With that she walked out and closed the door behind her softly. Tenchi began to make his way to the door.

"Wait Tenchi. Im going to fight Talaquine." Ayeka said running over and cutting him off.

"No Ayeka. Its to dangerous. He isn't someone to take lightly." Tenchi said in response. "How do you think Sasami would feel if you got hurt saving her? How do you think I'd feel if I let you fight in my place and you got hurt?"

"How do you think Sasami would feel if YOU got hurt, Tenchi?" Ayeka said. "She's my sister and its my fault she's in trouble. If I had been more responsible, we wouldn't have stopped at that bar."

Tenchi was about to say something that would have probably ended the fight, but turned around when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Zack was there. "Listen Tenchi, Life doesnt always make sense. People take risks that they probably shouldn't take even though they don't have to. But they still do if its for a loved one."

"I just cant let Ayeka go out there against that monster." Tenchi replied. Zack got up face to face with Tenchi and kept a firm grip on him with his left.

"Alright. Let me put it this way. A Dracadian's punch can topple and knock out an Agnerth." Zack said calmly.

"Huh?" Was Tenchi's confused response. Before he could react and understand the full meaning of Zack's seemingly useless bit of information, a hard hit to his stomach made him double over and things went black seconds later. Everyone just stared, shocked at what Zack had just done.

"Well, it kinda was the first thing that came to mind." Zack said holding Tenchi up haphazardly.

"Well I'll say..." Ryoko quietly, an expression of annoyance etched across her face.

"Anyways, Ayeka. Get a move on before our kind friend here wakes up." Zack said to the Princess. She stood there for a second, shocked. And then she went quickly for the door. "Oh yeah. Do try to come back alive. If you don't, Tenchi might be a little angry with me for letting you go."

Ayeka stood there for a second, opened the door and stood there. "Thank you." She muttered and walked out into the hall, closing the door behind her.

"Oof, help me here will ya. Im not fully recovered if you haven't noticed..." Zack said, beginning to lose his grip on Tenchi. Washu helped him carry Tenchi over to a bench and lay him down. She then stood up quickly, as if surprised, and ran out of the room down the hall.

Ayeka was almost to the blast doors that would lead into the 'pit' that the platform hovered over in the arena when she heard foots steps behind her. She stopped and turned around to see Washu running down the hall towards her. "What is it, Washu?" She asked.

"(pant pant) Ah I almost forgot...to give you these." Washu said holding out her hand. It was an earing and a small clip, something like the size of a bobby pin. Ayeka just looked at Washu with confusion. "(Boy, Im out of shape...) Err its an amplified receiver and communicator. I can hear your thoughts and we can keep in touch if you have those on. It will also keep an eye on your vitals so that if your in danger, I can pull you out. Zack had one, but for some reason it wasnt functioning, so I decided to make this, so you don't get hurt."

"Thanks." Ayeka said putting on the earing and small clip. She smiled weakly and continued her trek to the blast doors. She walked into a small room which seemed to be an intermediate type room between the arena and the hallway she had come from. The blast doors closed to the hall way, and new ones opened up in front of her. Ayeka walked out into the light. Her armor shimmered slightly in the bright lights. She was not in her custom Juraian battle armor she normally had, or to be more specific, she had an over armor over her Juraian Armor. The over armor was to give more protection and boost Ayeka's reflexs and responses, as well as her strength and agility. But more importantly, it concealed her Juraian armor so that people would not recognize her as part of the Jurai royal family. She also wore a partial face mask that covered her nose and mouth, so that it would be harder to identify her as the royal princess that is thought to be dead.

Her armor was close fitting metal plates and coverings that formed into a stream less plate mail that protected her chest and arms. A type of shin guard were also part of her armor. It was a dark gray - violet color that was outlined in a luminescent blue at the seams. A small gem was placed at the center of the chest plate and glowed a dark purple. The suit was very light weight, feather weight. This had surprised Ayeka at first, because in her first fight, she was not used to its light weight as well as the boost in strength and speed it was giving her. It maximized what talents she had and gave her a few new ones, including extreme flexibility.

Ayeka Was escorted across the small silent clearing in the 'pit' to the elevator which brought her up to the platform many times before already. The crowd was already going wild. Ayeka didnt have to wonder why they were. She knew they were cheering for Talaquine, and sure enough, when she finally got to the platform, he was ready and waiting across the platform. The little cube flew down once again to the middle of the Arena, droned on about rules Ayeka had already learned to well, and before long, it screeched fight, causing the crowd in the arena to go wild.

Ayeka charged across the ring at incredible speeds. Talaquine just stood there, smiling. Split seconds before Ayeka came into reach of him, He seemed to vanish. But Ayeka had anticipated and took the gamble and made a hard change in directions, ramming Talaquine with amazing force. He stumbled backwards and groaned with dismay from the hit.

"Urg.." Talaquine moaned in dismay, " Very clever, girl. You're the first one in this whole competition to land such a strong hit on me. Unfortunately for you, it will be the last."

After he regained his posture, he stood there, eyeing Ayeka with a kind of under the surface hate. And then he was gone. A blur of movement to Ayeka's right caught and soon followed a fist. She parried the attack and the following fury of strikes, all bent on connecting with her. She was concentrating with all her might to not get hit, but also notice even the fraction of a second opening for her to land a hard hit from the energy that was slowing building up in her hands. And that chance came. She gave him a hard right hook, and as she was connecting, discharged the energy into him like lightning. The arena glowed with an aura of blinding flashes of blue and white. Talaquine flew back with tremendous force, smashing through a boulder and skidding across the floor of the arena on his back.

"Tell it to someone who cares!" Ayeka said proudly, confident that the match was over. The crowd was shocked silent. The champion was defeated by some foreign girl no more then 17 or so years old. They didnt know what to think. An unlikely heroine, was the general thought. Ayeka turned around and began to walk the nearest corner with an elevator to take her from the platform. The crowd gasped and then went wild with enthusiasm. Ayeka beamed with joy for a moment. (AH yes. A natural born winner) She thought to herself. But the shuffling of dirt and gravel behind her caused her to stop dead in her tracks and re-evaluate the situation. Sure enough, as she turned around, Talaquine was rising to his feet. Beat up, cut up, bruised and ragged, but still alive and well enough to fight. Ayeka stared at him. He was shaking or convulsing, she couldnt tell. (Is he crying...?) Was Ayeka's first thought.

"...heh heh...Heh heh HA HA HA HA HAAA" Bellowed Talaquine, laughing very maniacally. "Ohh verrry verrry clever, girl. That was fanTASTIC. Truly MARVELOUS. HA HA HA HA HA..."

Ayeka cringed. How could he be laughing, or better yet, how could he even be conscience. Then she noticed the guards on his arms. They were glowing and seemed to have some kind of white ethereal vapor rising from then. His body glowed sofly. She dindt know what hit her next. There was even a blur, or a time gap. He smashed her hard in the stomach with a force that she almost blacked out from it. She was helpless. Floating in the air. Couldnt grapple anything or even discern the sky from the ground. Stunned. Her body seemed, eyes jarred open, mouth agape, paralyzed. Everything seemed to be in slow motion, and unreal, and then, as if someone had pressed the play button on reality, she hit a pillar like boulder and arched in pain. She fell to the ground, but made her self get to her knees. Her stomach seemed to cave him and she coughed up a small bit of blood into the dirt. She wiped it away, and without even realizing what she was doing, she was up and flying at Talaquine, fist clenched, already charging another attack.

She wasnt flying upward this time, but was drilled straight into the dirt. She went from flying to the ground in split seconds. No time delay. But she wasnt fazed this time like the last. Ayeka was on autopilot now. Rage and her desire not to lose because of all that was riding on it made her body get up attack after attack, hit after hit, blow after blow. She was laying on the ground on heaving heavily. Eyes dazed, and tears streaming from her eyes from the raw pain she was feeling all over. Talaquine strolled up to her, with a sadistic grin plastered across his face. He was aware of her current health.

"Very brave and bold fight you put on. You were the hardest competitor I've had in a long time, you know?" Vasquez said circling her like a vulture waiting for the moment when an animal cant defend itself, " You were clever and very skilled, eh princess."

Ayeka's eyes widened with fear and shock.

"Oh yes, I knew for a while who you were. No one could ever mistake a pretty face like yours for anyone else. Are you here to kill me? Are you? For your dear sister? Oh yes, I know about her and Vasquez's plan. He really is a fool. But it seems that soon he will die. And when he does, so will your dear sister. But thats not before I put you out of your misery. Buh bye, princess." Talaquine said, full of glee.

His fist drew back and punched down ward, aiming to kill Ayeka with a fatal blow to the head. But Talaquine hit nothing but dirt. For a moment, he was perplexed, that is until a foot came crashing against the side of his face. He was thrown to the ground and rolled.

"I WILL NOT LOSE TO YOU!" Came a cry over the crowd. Talaquine looked up to see Ayeka, eyes full of rage, fist full of energy coming down from above him with immense speed and force. He rolled onto his back, and put up his hands to counter attack Ayeka. The ring erupted in a violent flash of red blue and white. The platform rumbled and heavy winds rushing around the platform kicked up dust. A glowing white ball of energy formed between Ayeka and Talaquine. His guards were glowing a heated red and rattling violently, while Ayeka's arm shook with the stress of the attack. They both were showing signs of strain. The ball kept shrinking, and then a bright flash consumed the whole arena, as an energy explosion rocked the platform, incinerating and destroying everything on the platform.

After a few moments, the violent noise and light died down, and the platform was cracked and falling part in various areas. There were no more boulders, and the ground was now a blackened charred color. The dust and smoked begin to fade, and Ayeka could be seen. Her over armor completely ruined, and her traditional Juraian armor in shambles. She was hunched forward, but showed signs of life as she gently rose and fell as she breathed. The crowd was silent.

Washu, Zack, and Ryoko were awstruck. Washu snapped herself out of it, and frantically typed on her holo computer. She looked worried for a minute, but a small sign of relief came to her face. Tenchi had long since come to and had watched the latter half of the battle. Worry was on his face.

"Is she alright, Washu?" He asked.

"She's beat up mighty bad, but she will live. That is if we can get her out of that infernal arena. She's showing a lot of bad vital signs." Washu said. "But atleast this is over..."

"No way..." Ryoko said in shock. Everyones attention returned to the ring. Through a bit of the remaining dust, a silhouette could be seen. A fiery glow was being emitted from the lower arms of the silhouette. Ayeka looked up, gripping her self as she did. Talaquine emerged from the smoke and dust. Rage filled his eyes. He was bleeding and was in worse shape then Ayeka, but still walked as if he wasnt even injured.

"Oh no..." Zack said with horror. "She cant win, not with what he has... Those cant be..."

"Weve got to get her out of there!" Tenchi said in a panic. "Do something Washu!"

"Im trying, I cant seem to get a lock on Ayeka. Somethings interrupting the homing signal on her." Washu said as she typed frantically. Windows of information appeared and disappeared in split seconds.

"Those are disrupting your signal. SHIT. Weve got to DO something." Zack said realizing something even worse then the current situation.

"What? WHAT! Whats disrupting my signal!" Washu said. Talaquine continued to walk towards Ayeka. He would soon be in reach of her. The frown soon turned into a sadistic smile.

"Time for you to DIE NOW, PRINCESS!" Talaquine screamed as he brought his hands over his head. A ball of red light formed in his hands. Wind began to swirl and kick around him.

"There's no time!" Ryoko said. She grabbed Tenchi's arm and faded away. Talaquine brought the ball of light down on fast and hard on Ayeka. A violent explosion rocked the platform. Huge chunks of it crumbled into dust . Smoke blacker then the darkest night rose from the place Ayeka been.

"Was fun, princess, but now its over..." Talaquine said with a grim satisfaction. His satisfaction didnt last long however. A soft light began to show through the smoke. It was a vertical bar of light, soon two others, began to show through, forming what was like an upside down Y. "What..what is that!"

Smoke slowly faded away, and Talaquine could see a boy behind the bars of energy. Tenchi stood there, in his full Juraian Armor, using the wings of the light hawk to shield Ayeka from the blast. Ryoke was carrying Ayeka. Talaquine's shock was soon replaced by a grin. He raised his hand, revealing the palm of it. A small jewel gleamed and began to shimmer, but soon stopped.

"What? Impossible!" Talaquine said with shock. He raised his hand again after inspecting it. The gem began to shimmer but stopped once more. "IMPOSSIBLE! What kind of energy is NOT ABSORBABLE!"

Tenchi looked at him with hate, but was also bothered by what he said. (Absorbed?) He thought.  
There came a rumble from over head. The crowd died down to a murmer Another rumble. A faint explosion could be heard. Ryoko looked up to the high ceiling. Her face told the story that she was analyzing the situation, but changed very quickly, as if to say that she just noticed something incredible.

"Time to go, Tenchi!" Ryoko yelled. The rumbling was getting louder and closer. The arena began to shake, and the crowd began to become restless. A murmur filled the air. Even Talaquine looked around confused for a moment. The ceiling began to crack all of a sudden, and with an explosion, Heavy bits of concrete rained down from above. The crowd began to run for cover. The Ryo Oh Ki could be seen through the gap in the ceiling.

"MreOOWWW!" It 'meowed'. Reddish orange light encircled Tenchi, Ayeka, and Ryoko. And within seconds, they were gone. Ryo-Oh-Ki bolted off into the clouds over head. Ryoko assumed command of Ryo-Oh-Ki almost immediately.

"Ryoko, What about Zack and Washu?" Tenchi said, now looking after Ayeka.

"They're fine." Ryoko said. Tenchi became a bit confused and worried. They broke through the cloud cover and through the atmosphere. Two ships greeted them as they did; the Zenith and the Yagami, both fully repaired. The Zenith began to turn away from the planet, as Ryo-Oh-Ki approached the Yagami. "See, told you they were fine. Grab hold."

When they were passing by the side of the Yagami, Ryoko teleported herself along with Ayeka and Tenchi. They landed in the cargo hold of the Yagami, where their make shift dormitories were. The automatic door slid open and Sasami and Washu rushed in. Sasami ran over and hugged Ayeka. She was crying.

"Im so sorry, Ayeka. I didnt mean for any of this to happen." She sobbed. Ayeka smiled and returned the hug wiht what energy she had left. Washu came over to Ayeka and looked her over the best she could. A soft smile was on her face Ayeka's face. Washu pulled out a small mechanical syringe and 'gave' it to Ayeka. Her eyes slowly closed and her grip on Sasami gave away.

"Tenchi. Ryoko. Help me get her upstairs to the medical bay. She's going to need a lot of rest and care." Washu instructed them. "Sasami."

She stiffened up. She was still sad and trying to hold back her tears. Her head was bowed slightly, ready to receive a verbal punishment. But none came. Washu's hand brought her chin up so that Sasami was looking at her. "Dry up those tears. Your sister wouldnt be happy if you were sad, you know." Sasami just cried some more and hugged Washu.

Kiyone began to push the Yagami to her flight limits as soon as everyone was back on board safely. The Zenith had already made a quite a considerable gap distance, taking in account that they were going to fly through both a meteor belt and a field of space debris. The Zenith slowed a bit to allow the Yagami to catch up before they continued on.

"We'll be gone before they even know what happened." Kiyone grinned with confidence. "Almost caught up with the Zenith... what the?"

The Zenith had stopped dead and then made a very fast rotation, so that is was facing the way they were coming from. It charged the Yagami.

"Whats he doing?" Kiyone said aloud, questioning no one in particular at the strange act.

"Kiyone!" Mihoshi said from the seat next to Kiyone's.

"What?" Came a gruff reply.

"I think they noticed us." the blond GP officer said as she was pointing to the console in front of her. Multiple red dots showed up on the bottom part of it.

"Damn, how'd they notice us so soon?" The Zenith Passed over the Yagami as Kiyone said that. A holo screen appeared in front of the two GP officers.

"Im going to delay them a bit. Just keep going the route that Mr. E told us." Zack said. The holo screen collapsed downward and disappeared.

Kiyone pressed a few buttons, so that the ships loud speaker system was on. "Everyone hang on. This is about to get really rough." She shut off the loud speaker system, as they passed a destroyed ship that was nearly 10 times the size of the Yagami. Warning lights began to glow, as the computer displayed warnings of multiple collisions with the ship. They entered the meteor belt. Flashes of light were visible from a direction behind the Yagami. Space radar detected that the Zenith had now changed directions and was now heading to catch up with the Yagami at full speed. The ship began to dodge left and right, up and down. Meteors and dark matter passed by the Yagami, sometimes coming very close to the ship. "Ah, that Mr. E sure did pick a heck of an escape route." Kiyone said as she gritted her teeth as she almost collided with a piece of dark matter.

Dark matter is a substance that is virtually invisiable to the naked eye in space. Small fragments tend to float freely through space, but there are clusters and clusters of this material in Meteor belts. The Yagami was passing through one such cluster.

"Almost through..." Kiyone said, using her expert piloting skills to avoid all the debris, meteorites, and dark matter. A group of ships, mainly small nimble fighters were following close behind the Yagami and Zenith. They soon began to open fire, making the situation much more dire. Stray laser blasts hit dark matter and meteors, causing a type of reaction that threw up the whole place into a flurry of meteors, debris, and dark matter. The Yagami began to fire its main cannons to blow away small chunks and particles. The small nimble fighters did not give up. The Zenith occasionally returned fire but was using most of its power to keep flying through the meteor belt. A small ship, that was leading the persuing group of small ships got very bold and sped past the Zenith and Yagami. It rotated around and Began to open fire on the Yagami. The Yagami returned the favor and clipped the small ship. It lost control of its ability to turn and smashed into a large peice of dark matter, causing it to 'fall' directly onto the. Kiyone could not fly around or low enough or anywhere for that matter to escape it. She tensed up, knowing that this peice of dark matter would wipe out the Yagami.

"Waaaaaaaah!" Mihoshi cried out, seeing their doom falling towards them. She flailed her arms about, paniked. It hit her console, causing the ship to use the reverse thrusters for a short burst unevenly. The ship lurched backwards and turned off angle. The large piece of dark matter missed the Yagami as the ship seemed to now perfectly fit with a small ridge in the side of the black glass like material. When it passed, Kiyone was stuck in a state of shock. She wasnt sure what to make of it. She turned her head slowly and stared at Mihoshi.

"Gak!" Mihoshi uttered in a panic. "S-s-sorry, Kiyone! I didnt mean to! It was an Accident...please don't hurt me..."

"Mihoshi. I could KISS you right now. You just saved us." Kiyone said with enthusiasm and joy that she wasnt dead and that for once, a mistake Mihoshi made saved them all from their untimely demise.

"What are you all waiting for! If you havent noticed, were still being followed." Came a voice from the holo screen that just popped up. " Get a move on!"

The Zenith roared by, causing Kiyone to come back to her sense. She took control of the ship and sped through the meteor field. The enemy persuit continued, though. The meteor field was coming to and end, as Kiyone could see it was beginning to thin out. Their persuers were still following close behind. (All we have to do is make it open space, and we can make a stand against them and ambush them as they come out of the belt...) Kiyone thought to herself, as she became determined to be free of the meteor belt's danger. A large meteor covered their path and the Yagami and Zenith took a steep dive to get around it and come up on the other side.

Kiyone gasped in horror. They were free of the meteor belt at last. But now were faced an even greater threat. "Oh my god..." she muttered. For the sight that met their eyes was not open space, but the Juraian Fleet. 


	12. Ch 12 No Need For Explainations

OMG! Were BACK IN SPACE!. ELITE! HAX. AWESOME. Err yeah, The usual mantra of slang for good. OMG, Its summer finally. Since I last posted theres been a HUGE CRAP LOAD OF STUFF TO DO. Everything from finals to projects to work to hanging out with friends to AX (It was awesome) to love to chores to working out to virtually everything that happens on a daily basis in my life. Yeah, realllllly late delay. Sorry bout that D: . Anyways Yeah, hope you enjoy this chapter. Spent up till the early hours of the morning writing this cause I wanted to :D. Woot

Ch.12 No Need Explanations

"Oh my god..." Kiyone muttered, wide eyed. She didnt know what to do. Their journey would be cut short, lives over, everything gone. There was no way to escape the Juraian fleet, especially if they were looming over you. "W..W..Washu!" was the only thing she could think to say. Maybe her genius would save them all yet once again. She repeated the call for help over the intercom. But instead of Washu coming through the door behind them, a holoscreen came up on front of them.

"Weve got to keep moving! Their closing in on us." Zack said, barreling right into the Juraian fleet.

"Are you MAD! Were going to get killed going in there!" Kiyone protested.

"Just trust me. If we go now, they may not notice us. Its our only chance." Zack said in reply and closed the communications. Kiyone hesitated. She had the feeling he was right, but it went against all logic and reason. She said a prayer under her breath, and powered the thrusters to max output and took off after the Zenith. The fleet didnt change directions. They were going in a direction Perpendicular to the Zenith and Yagami, and did not seem to notice the two fast approaching ships, along with the fighters following in hot persuit. Kiyone felt for a moment that maybe they would fly right under them, undetected. The ship began to rattle a bit from the rumble of the engines. Washu, Ryoko, and Tenchi came in to see why Kiyone had called for help. Mihoshi turned back to see, and they could see the panic written across her face.

"Huh..What the! Are you INSANE!" Ryoko said, taking note that they were now flying at full speed into certain doom. "We'll be destroyed!"

Washu walked over to Kiyone and put her hand on her forehead, calmly. It seemed kind of out of place. "Are you feeling alright, Kiyone?" she asked calmly.

"No Im not feeling alright!" Kiyone said, still edgy and panicked at what she was doing.

"Ah, ok. Just wondering since you seem to have LOST YOUR MIND." Washu screamed. "That there is our DEATH KNELL. Why are we FLYING INTO THAT!"

"Cant you think of something better to do! Were kinda trapped between the fighters and the fleet!" Kiyone sputtered quickly. "We cant take the fighters, and we cant take the fleet and Zack said to follow him into that mess!"

"Open a communication with the suicidal one!" Washu said. A holoscreen popped up. The faint background noise of the Zeniths main frame could be heard.

"Battle Zone is being set up. Multiple Jump signatures detected. Receiving new fleet Orders. Comply or Ignore?"

"Zack, just what are you thinking!" Washu demanded over the communication.

"Just Trust me. Kiyone, I suggest you get level headed, this place is about get violent." Zack said, and force cut the transmission. The Zenith began to emit a soft red glow for a moment, but soon faded. The Juraian fleet took notice of the approaching group, and a small group began to break away from the main battalion to intercept.

"Here they come!" Tenchi said, pointing out the break in the fleet.

"Gah! Yeah its about to get violent!" Ryoko screamed. "Were going to get destroyed."

But something was amiss. Bright flashes began to appear with in the center of the battalion. Soon fighting erupted. The fleet ships were attacking an enemy Kiyone and the rest could not see. The small group of Juraian ships still progressed towards them, but soon enough, flashes off their bows caused them to stop, and they too began to shoot at invisible enemies. A new communication hologram popped up.

"Stay close, don't attack anything. Just run straight through it. You stay in any place to long and you will get destroyed. And stay AWAY from the light flashes!" Zack warned, almost at the fleet already. The communication cut out again.

"So were going to follow him into that mess?" Ryoko said anxious, "And just what the hell is going on with them anyways?"

"Waaaah Were all going to die!" Mihoshi cried.

"Get a hold of yourself!" Kiyone said sternly. She looked at the fleet and turned pail. "Ah who am I kidding! We ARE going to die!"

"Only one thing left at a time like this" Washu said calmly.

"You have a plan, Washu!" Tenchi said in a relieved/excited voice.

"Yep!" Washu said with conviction. They were all optimistic. "AT times like these, best thing to do is...pray." She started praying. They all looked grim. Bright flashes directly in front of the ship followed by a low rumble grabbed their attention again. They were at the edge of the fleet. The Juraian battleships were firing in every which direction. Flashes of laser light here and there pounded and rattled some of the Juraian battleships, as small nearby explosions rocked the Yagami violently.

"Here we go!" Kiyone said taking firm hold of her chair. The small attack fighters approached the fleet as well, but stopped a certain distance away from it, and hovered.

The Yagami was flying through a War zone. A Juraian ship seemed to gently fall down from above, burning and ruined. Laser fire cut right across the Yagami's bow, barely missing. Kiyone piloted the Yagami close to the fallen battle ship, using it as cover and finding open navigation points. A bright flash and a violent explosion followed by a shower of debris crossed the Yagami's path. It rose over, turned onto its side and took a steep dive under a near by Juraian ship that was occupied. Guns armed, the Juraian ship took notice of them and begin rounding off a few shots.

A shot tore through an small rudder on the back of the Yagami, but nothing serious. Kiyone continued the flight, avoiding as much of the enemy fire she was receiving from the Juraian battle group. Glimpses of the Zenith could be seen. A giant flash of light erupted in front of her, and a strange ship appeared from it. It was the rough size of the Zenith, maybe slightly larger, and seemed to share the same structural set up as that of the Zenith, though not exactly. Dracadian signatures and lettering were on the sides and wings of the ship. The Juraian battle ship that was over head changed targets to the new enemy, and a battle between the two ensued.

"It's a confrontation between the Juraians and Dracadians!" Ryoko said astonished.

"Very clever." Washu said to herself. Ryoko over heard it and looked at her perplexed. A violent explosion near by almost threw her from her feet, and lost interest in what Washu was talking about.

The Yagami continued the charge through the war zone. Warning lights began to sound off, though. Warning screens displaying huge energy signatures deep in space warned of some unseen threat. But it became apparent in a moments time, when a Juraian battle ship that was in front of them was speared by a massive beam of energy. It stopped firing and floated for a moment, before erupting into a massive ball of fire and debris. Parts of the ship flew everywhere. To avoid most of it, Kiyone steered the ship down, headlong into another large Juraian battle ship. But soon that was speared by the heavy energy wave, and met the same fate that the first ship had seen.

"What the hell is going on?" Kiyone said astonished and panicked by the force and destructive power of this mystery beam of energy. A holographic screen appeared, almost as if by cue.

"We've got to hurry! The artillery ships are laying down heavy fire on the fleet. If we don't get out of here soon, we'll be killed!" Zack said, fast and panicked. It was apparent he wasnt expecting this attack so soon.

"What do you mean Artillery?" Kiyone said angrily. "IF we get out of this mess alive, your telling us EVERYTHING."

"Fine fine, just get your asses in gear and get out of there!" Zack sent back fast. "GAH!"

The communication cut out. A huge beam of cold blue light could be seen through the fighting, right where the Zenith was.

"Oh no..." Washu said in shock.

The light faded quickly. The Yagami dived down and around another ship in the battle. They tried to see if they could get any sign of the Zenith. And for a fraction of a moment, they did. And what they say surprised them. A reddish bubble that was searing a near by ruined ship was around the Zenith. It had sustained no damage what so ever.

"Impossible!" Ryoko said in shock.

"Dracadaian sheilding. Interesting..." Washu said. The view was gone though in another second as a ship roared past. They didnt have time to notice if it was Juraian or Dracadian.

"Is it me or are we moving with the fleet as well?" Ryoko said, taking note of their change in position.

"We have. Its like trying to go across a raging river by walking. It pushes you down it, even if you are trying to go directly across." Washu said, now serious. Kiyone made a hard right, and a fast ascent to avoid collision. The warning signs reappeared again, and they could see why. The fleet had moved quite a bit since the beginning of the battle. They were near the Dracadian fleet already. It was smaller in number, but their some of their ships were massive. And one such ship was bearing down on top of them, almost ready to run them over. To dive would mean destruction for there was no room, left and right were the same as they were boxed in by Juraian ships. Only way was a fast 'vertical' ascent and hope to come over the top of it before collision. She pulled up hard and punched it, making sure the ship used what ever power it had to boosters.

"This..is..going to be TIGHT." Kiyone said, beginning to sweat.

The Yagami could see the edge of the large Dracadian dreadnaught. The Yagami was vibrating heavily, stress from the ships output, as well as light friction and trying to beat out the massive ship bearing down on it. They cleared it just in time, or so they thought. A piece of the back end snagged and caused the ship to nearly nose dive right into the top of the Dracadian ship. The Yagami hit the to top side and bounced forcefully off of it.

"Damn!" Kiyone cursed in dismay. One of the small side engines had stopped working, and their over all output dropped.

"Atleast they arent shooting us down like the Juraians." Ryoko said, looking for a bit of postive in all that danger they were in. Unfortunately, she was wrong. Cannons on the top of the dracadian ship began to open fire. The lasers were colored in many fashions, white, blue, red, a black only visible by the light that went around it, a green and yellow. They were punching holes in a lot of the small wings and other extensions of the Yagami.

"Get us out of here, Kiyone, or were dead!" yelled Tenchi.

"Im trying!" Kiyone said, trying to pull away from the Dracadian ship. She was finding it extremely difficult however. "I cant seem to pull away. Its like keeping me in close!"

"The ships sheer size is creating a small gravity well. Pull to the edges and break from there." Washu commanded.

Kiyone pulled the ship to the edge as fast as possible, still receiving heavy damage. She accelerated over the edge, successfully breaking away from the ship. The Dracadian ship kept plowing through the Juraian Fleet. More could be seen.

"There!" Mihoshi pointed out. "I think thats the edge of the fleet."

Kiyone took notice of it and steered the Yagami towards it. Ships, both Juraian and Dracadian, clashed in the gap between the Yagami and the edge of the war zone. She nimbly piloted the Yagami around it all. Nearing the edge, she made a heavy acceleration to reach the edge as soon as possible.

And in a moments time, there was nothing but deep space before them. The lights and explosions of the conflict now behind them. They continued to speed into space, making sure no one was following. After a few minutes, when the realization that they were safe for the moment, Kiyone slowly eased off the throttle, causing the Yagami to slow down and come to a stroll.

"Whew" Kiyone sighed, wiping a bit of sweat from her brow. A holo screen popped up. A young dracadian face was smiling at them.

"Now see, that wasnt so bad." Zack said confidently. Kiyone's face contorted with rage.

"What do you MEAN that wasnt so bad?" she yelled. "Look at the Yagami! We just fixed her and now she's all beat up AGAIN."

"Well I kinda was putting my trust in the fact taht you were an expert pilot and would come out alive." Came a response. "And nicely done too."

"Nicely...done?" Kiyone parroted the words to herself, trying to grasp the concept in her fit of rage. All the work that she had done for the last few days gone to waste in only a few minutes.

"Oh yes. Flying through a battlefield like that would usually kill most people." Zack replied. "So cheer up. The damage was a small sacrifice."

"Yeerrgggg.." Kiyone gritted her teath.

"Calm down, Kiyone." Washu said, stern and serious. Like a light being turned off, Kiyone wasnt angry anymore. If anything, she was perplexed by Washu's seriousness. " We have more important matters to talk about. Pull up within 800 meters; were coming aboard."

In a few minutes the Yagami and Zenith were cruising close to each other at a nice speed. In a hallway of the Zenith, one of the doors glowed and faded away. It opened up, Washu, Tenchi, Kiyone, and Ryoko standing together in the door way. They stepped out and the door shut behind them. The intercom cracked.

"You guys are in the lower left aft section of the ship. You've got to come up two decks to the crew lodge." came the clear voice of Zack over the intercom. Small floor lights began to light up along the edges of the floor. "Follow the green light path, that should take you the place."

They proceeded to follow the floor lights. The ship was still somewhat dark on the inside as it was before. They passed by many heavy looking doors that had crystal orbs mounted in the center of them and other hallways that branched off into even more hallways. They Came to a cylindrical elevator platform. It lit up and the glass doors slid sideways, allowing Tenchi and the rest access. The elevator then made a slow rise, making a mechanical low pitched whirr as it did. Eventually it stopped and the doors slid open again. They stepped out into a large well lit lobby. It was square in shape and plants and benches were placed everywhere. Small cylindrical structures that rose out of the floor created elevated platforms and small side rooms with chairs, computer consoles, and beds and bunks lined the walls to their left and right. A small stream with florescent blue water seemed to run below them in a canal that went around to each of the large blocks that held plants, but was covered with a transparent plate of glass or material. Yellow and white lights glowed softly from the sides of the ceiling creating a warm calming feeling. The ceiling and walls were transparent, so that the stars could be seen. The Yagami could be seen in the corner of the ceiling 'window'. Everything was a soft light - yellow with highlights of dark maroon silver-blue.

"Woah..." Ryoko said with a bit of astonishment. Kiyone and Tenchi also shared that feeling as they gasped at the sight. Washu, however wasnt taken in by the scenery.

"This is the observatory deck of the ship." Said Zack strolling in view with some kind of fruit that looked like an apple in hand. He took a bite. "Its supposed to be a place for the crew to unwind and relax, but there really isn't a crew on board."

Zack actually appeared a fatigued, even though he was trying his best to cover it. He wasnt having a whole lot of success, though.

"I want to know everything." Washu said, cutting to the chase. "You seemed to realize something when Ayeka was fighting Talaquine. Or how is it that Vasquez knew who you were but we didnt. Further more, why were you even in Jurai space to begin with at the time of the Emperor's assassination attempt? And how were you even able to survive such an immense barrage from your own fleet? Answers, right here, right now."

Zack just looked at her. He sat down on one of the large blocks that had a tree growing from it. A small console revealed itself within a moments time and he punched in something. A large screen presented itself from the floor. On it was a displayed picture of a solar system. It was very similar to the solar system which earth resided in. The key difference was that two of planets encircled the sun in the same orbit, directly across from each other on the cycle.

"For starters, Ill start with myself. I am an apprentice emmisary of the Order Of The Blaze. It is one of six orders in charge of the Dracadian Empire behind the scenes. Our purpose is military intelligence as well as heavy fleet fire support and military tactics. I was sent to Jurai at the request of the Council. The Council on our planet is much like that of Jurai's. It pretty much is the government really in a nutshell. 12 Dracadians, each one of a breed, and one male and one female for each breed, reside on this council and make the decisions of the planet. Usually, it would be the business of another branch of our government that would have even went to Jurai, but I was called upon since I was the best qualified to handle the Zenith and as it was the only readily available ship. Long ago, there was another coup on Jurai. The problem was that the Emperor already knew it was coming but was powerless to stop it. So he contacted Dracadians for help. The agreement was an underground alliance with Dracadians to keep our governments in charge and going. It was masked as a open trade agreement that would allow trade between the two empires to resume. We agreed because for one, the Juraian empire at the time was actually changing its views, military wise, towards us so they were not as hostile as they had been. Those conducting the coup, however, were militantly apposed to Dracadian existence and sought to destroy us anyways. So I, under the orders and agreement of such contract, came to protect and analyze the situation. I found out of the coup but my presence was found out. So I escaped from Jurai and well it all leads up to now. On the next two questions, please look at the monitor. Those two planets are Dracadia and Igzerthyl. Dracadia is our home planet, with a total population at the moment approaching 900 million, if that. Igzerthyl has a population of 70 million. Over all, including all those spread about the system and our empires, there are a total of 1.7 Billion Dracadians alive. Anyways, both planets are the same mass and density and travel at the exact same orbit speeds in the same orbit. They both rotate at the same speeds. So essentially speaking, both planets are identical pretty much. Both carry life, and very similar life. Its one of the strangest natural phenomenon in existence. Our Solar System is unique because of it."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Ryoko asked bluntly.

"Just hold your camlons for a moment and let me tell you. As I was saying, Dracadia is the home planet. We discovered the existence of Igzerthyl when our space age began, as it was one of easiest planets to actually travel to. Igzerthyl's atmosphere is just about identical, yet again, to Dracadia's. In fact life on the planet seemed to have evolved the same way. The only difference was that no intelligent that had independent thought free of instinct existed on the planet. There was a bit of a reason for this we discovered eventually. Talaquine had a weapon on him that had Azora. Azora is a metal that can transfer biological metaphysical kinetic energy, as well as surrounding energy if the right kind is present in the enviroment, into electrical and mechanical systems for their use and also cause a display of metaphysical kinetic energy that is amplified and easier manipulated by the life force that is donating the energy in the first place."

"Uhh..." Everyone had a blank expression on their face, except Washu of coarse.

"Errr..." Zack realized what he was saying wasnt getting through to the rest.

"Ugh.." Washu rubbed her eyes also realizing none of others actually got what Zack was saying. "Ill dumb it down for all of you. Remember how I said Zack's race is an elemental race and that their powers stem from themselves. That power is called in its long name biological metaphysical kinetic energy. To the rest of us, we just refer to it as Ether for short. Anyways, they have a metal that takes that energy and can amplify it as well as make it possible so that machines can use it. Which would explain how Zack was able to survive that attack. This ship then has Azora on it?"

"Yeah, it does. That capsule on the bridge is the transfer unit. These special bracelets that you saw earlier are the syphoning links. When I wear them, the ship can syphon energy at my command and I can manipulate it for my own use. Such as weaponry or shielding. The shields can be almost infinitely strong, as long as there is Ether to donate from those that are being syphoned. Unfortunately, there isnt an infinite supply from one individual, and only so much can be tapped before it gives out. Syphoning takes a lot out of those being syphoned, as you are probably noticing, and rest is what is needed for it to regenerate. This ship usually houses so much more, but since I was dispatched with haste, I was given no crew."

"Then what is the big deal if Talaquine had Azora?" Kiyone asked. "And Talaquine isnt a Dracadian. So how is he able to use Azora?"

"You don't have to be a elemental being to have ether," Washu spoke again. "In theory, every lifeform has ether to some extent. Like anything, a person or being could theoretically build up his or her or its ether through some kind of training, but most life forms do not. Dracadians however, did. But as Kiyone said, He wasnt dracadian, so for him to muster so much energy..."

She pondered for a moment, and then something seemed to click. Zack just smiled in response.

"I see! That was a clever trick." She said with excitement. Once again, everyone else, excluding Washu and Zack, looked clueless. "Azora can absorb energy from outside sources, so if the energy was the right kind, then he could absorb it directly from the ring to boost his powers. To further this, he could also absorb energy from his opponents if he was close enough."

"Yeah," Zack said in agreement. " I didnt really realize it when I was fighting him, because I wasnt looking for it or expecting it. But I noticed it when I was watching Tenchi fight."

"Yeah, but as Kiyone said, who cares if Talaquine had Azora. Is that all that is special about it? Hell, why'd we even need to know about Igze-whatever-it-was anyways?" Ryoko said, trying to grasp all this.

"Its very bad. It's a sacred metal to us Dracadians. Azora is a metal that only works one way for starters. Meaning. Once its started syphoning, it wont stop syphoning until either theres no energy left or it is countered by another a metal found on Dracadia. Lazure shuts down the syphoning process. Thats why there are two 'bracelets' on me. One is Lazure and the other is Azora. To also make matters a lot worse, is energy fed to Azora can be transfered easy, so when Ayeka was fighting, she could not have one using her Juraian powers against him as long as he had those guards that would absorb her energy. But the worst of all this is that he had Azora and Lazure to begin with. These two metals are only found on Dracadia and Igzerthyl. And because of Azora, no life that had its own will power free of instinct ever came to evolve. It is a metal, just like Lazure, that can not be replicated or synthesized by any means. The material seems to 'grow' in under ground veins quite quickly in comparison to other metal formations. The material is guarded with great tenacity. Movement of even the smallest quantity is escorted by a battalion of our war ships. So how it even got into his hands is very very bad. Meaning theres a problem within our government. So this coup could have had our assassins involved some how. I just don't know how yet. Or why."

"If thats true then..." Kiyone thought for a moment as she looked down at the floor. "Then there are people on both sides that would come out on top if there was a war between the two empires. But who is the real problem."

"Why." Washu said.

"Hmm?" Kiyone replied looking up.

"The real question is why. Its obvious that someone or some people is pulling the strings behind this whole thing and that they are probably the master mind behind this whole coup. But there has to be a reason to start a war. And I believe it has something to do with that Azora and Lazure. Does Jurai know about these metals?" Washu asked Zack.

"They shouldnt." Zack responded. "If they had these metals, they could easily by pass quite a bit of our technology. Not to mention, if it was paired up with..."

Zack turned grim as he just realized something.

"What is it?" Washu asked, noticing his sudden change of heart.

"My god..." he muttered. "The way Azora works can be done in two ways. You can either volunteer your own energy to it, which is the way we go about doing it. The other method is illegal, but still possible. A forced start syphon using special devices that are considered to be black technology because of the dangers behind it. IF Talaquine had Azora and Lazure, then it was likely that some of our black technology was also let out. This means, IF Azora was to be coupled with a Juraian Sentient Tree, using the black technology would force out the power of Jurai from the trees. It would grant anyone the ability to use the power of Jurai."

This realization dawned upon everyone in the room. It was a horrifying concept. If anyone was able to use the power of Jurai, then the Jurai dynasty would for one collapse, and the power that guards Jurai as a whole would be destroyed. The dangers behind such an action were limitless.

"So thats what the war is about!" Washu exclaimed. "The war isnt about revenge, it's a cover up so that the Juraian fleets can reach Dracadia and Igzerthyl and harvest the metal. As you said, the stuff is not easy to come by, so to actually have this metal you would have to go to its source."

"But wait, couldn't the metal be extracted from destroyed Dracadian ships?" Tenchi asked.

"It could be, but when Azora is exposed to Lazure through physical contact for to long, both metals fuse, ceasing the special properties of each metal. The ships are set wtih a fail safe so that happens." Zack said getting down. He had to steady himself, because he still seemed weakened. "That means we have to go back to Dracadia to stop all this."

"No," Washu said turning down the idea. "Theres nothing we could do in Dracadia. We woudln't be able to stop it from being smuggled out in the first place. We have to go to Jurai for sure now and stop the coup and find the ring leader."

The bracelet on Kiyone's hand lit up just then. She looked at it and turned it. A small holographic screen appeared, wiht Mihoshi's face on it. "Hm? What is it, Mihoshi?" the GP officer asked her partner.

"Uhh, theres a space station or something up ahead. Its orbiting a desert planet of some sort, and its very large." Mihoshi said.

"Yeah waht about it?" Kiyone asked, not understanding the problem.

"Its displaying some kind of distress signal, I think. What should we do?" Mihoshi asked her partner.

"Ill be back in a moment." Kiyone said, and with that she turned to leave. "Ill pick up the rest of the details later, this first."

"Ill prepare for a boarding party then." Washu said leaving. "We will discuss this later."

Tenchi and Ryoko left with her as well. Zack looked out one of the windows from which he was sitting. Sure enough, in the distance over a dusty yellow-orange planet was a large run down looking space station. Zack got chills for a moment.

"I don't like the looks of this..." he said to himself. 


	13. CH 13 No Need For Traps

Given that its been a long while since I updated, style and actions may change. I kinda feel I have screwed up a bit in these next two chapters which I kinda wrote at the same time about charecter feelings and personalities. Im re-reading a lot of what I have, rewatching the anime's and even re-reading the mangas to try and pick up a feel of the characters again. So don't hate me a whole lot. These next two chapters were definitely planned as a part of the story from the beginning, but some of the incidents and junk I used as well as the thought of trying to convey emotion in bigger aspects is kinda new to me so it may sound/read unrealistic. I've taken it to myself that the only way to get better at something is to work with it, so for these next two chapters and probably future chapters concerning heavy emotion, It may sound funky but eh. Please bear with it.

As for anyone who does wonder where my long absence was spent, it was mainly dealing with the start of senior year, new stuff, taking care of old stuff, and for the most part lazyness and tiredness. But Im on a down hill journey now to the very end of HS. No guarentees how often or soon the next chapters are going to be up, but we'll see. Be aware that most likely, the next segment after 13 and 14 here will be somewhat dark, but Ill probably add something fun in after that to lighten the mood a bit. Finally, I kinda predict 20-25 chapters in length of this fan fic. So Im over half way done already I believe. Anyways, please enjoy.

Ch 13 No need for Traps

Kiyone came back to the bridge of the Yagami. Mihoshi was still seated and looking out the window to the rickety space station quite a few clicks away from the Yagami. Washu, Tenchi, and Ryoko also filed into the bridge. Kiyone began to type on a holo key board that popped up in front of her. She carefully read the data being sent back to her, while Washu read over her shoulder.

"The distress signal is an old one, probably left on when the station was evacuated..." said Kiyone. "Even by the looks of the station itself, it seems like an old and worn down. Im kind of surprised it's still sending out a signal."

Washu looked down to the desert planet below. A disappointed look crossed her face for a moment. "Do you know which planet that is?"

"Oh?" Ryoko teased, "The great Washu doesn't know what planet that is?"

"I don't recall seeing that planet on my charts," Washu replied with a bit of agitation. "And I don't see you coming up with an answer either."

"Hmm...lemmee check what planet that is..." Kiyone said typing in more information into the computer. "...hmm lessee...huh? WHAT? NOOO!"

She banged her fists on the dash of the counsel in front of her in anger and despair. A holographic screen popped up. Zack, still tired looking but with an embarrassed expression painted on his face appeared.

"Uhh hi, guys..." greeted the Dracadian. "Would any of you happen to know where we are exactly? That battle we past through kinda shot up my nav systems, and they wont be repaired for quite a bit..."

"Wha?" Tenchi said looking at Zack, and then to Kiyone, piecing two and two together in his head.

Kiyone looked up, eyes teary, and face full of dread and sadness. "...Ours too..." she muttered. She quickly went from sad to mad in a flash, something only done when Mihoshi screws up. "This.. Is all... your FAULT! I KNEW FOLLOWING YOU WAS A BAD IDEA! I knew it I knew it I knew IT!" She yelled pointing a finger at the screen.

"Wha? Oh yeah then, what would you have done?" Zack shot back over the comm link.

"I don't know, but it wouldn't have been going through all that mess!" she glared at Zack.

"Oh yeah! Really now?" Zack glared back.

"Urg, enough you two!" Washu finally said. "Geez, your both giving me a head ache as it is. If its not one problem to fix, its another."

A 'humph' came from both Kiyone and Zack. "Well then, how do we fix this problem?" Zack finally said.

"We'll dock with that space station there and see what we can get out of its computer systems. Then we'll strip down whatever I can use to repair this ship and yours, and then get to some place to have a rest." Washu replied.

Zack and Kiyone blinked in agreement. After a few minutes of travel, the Yagami and Zenith were pulling up onto either side of the of the space station. The long docking tube extended from the Yagami and attached to the port side of the space station. An attachment bridge extended from the Zenith to connect the space station but made clanking and scraping noises instead when it tried to latch on.

Kiyone and Washu were about to leave the bridge after having a brief talk about what to do once inside the station when a holo screen popped up.

"I cant dock." Zack said sadly.

"What do you mean you cant?" came Washu's reply.

"The docking couplings don't fit with the station's couplings. So I cant dock with it easily..." Zack explained. "I can try a forced dock, but I don't know how well this station will take it."

"No, no. Thats alright." Washu said. "You can keep guard then, tell us if anything happens."

With that the communication ended. Zack sat back in his seat and stared out the view window at the old space station. He sighed. "Stupid piece of crap station..."

Everyone aboard the Yagami left it to travel with Washu and Kiyone as they explored the old space station. Sasami walked close to Tenchi and Ayeka, with Ryo-Ohki perched on her head. The happenings at Balboas still fresh in their memories, it would have probably been safer that she were with them then alone aboard the Yagami. After traveling down dark barren hallways and long corridors, they came to a heavily secure door. Juraian script was written on the door front, as a crease split it where the two panels met to make up the door.

"This is it," Washu said looking at the door. "Beyond this door is the control room. We can get all the information we need from here."

She began typing some more on her holo lap top. The lights above the door flickered a bit, then clicked on. They were dim and casted an ominous glow on the door. More typing ensued. After another moment or two, the gray door parted in two, allowing entrance into the control room. It was a large room that was circular. Its set up allowed a person to easily move from panel to panel as control consoles lined the walls and a large screen dominated the wall opposite of the door. They all stepped in. Kiyone walked up to the center console and began to type in security protocols to get the system started up again. The panels and consoles began to emit a soft glow as a hum could be heard in the small room. The large monitor lit up and displayed some script, and ran some files. As soon as things were started up, Kiyone quickly sifted through the computer's database to find out information as to where they were.

"We're on the other side of the Dracadian/Juraian Boundaries, yet this planet was also under Juraian jurisdiction." The blue green haired office said to those behind her. "Mm hmm... Ok, I know where we are now, and can get us back on track.."

"See if theres anything in this place that we can use." Washu said, behind her. Kiyone continued to sift through the computer's information banks.

"There's a large hanger compartment that seems like its being used to store supplies at the moment about four levels down." Kiyone said finally. "Why don't you guys head down there and check it out, while I see if I can get anything else out of this computer."

"Here." Washu said in agreement as she handed Kiyone a flat 'disk' no larger then dime at most. "Just copy everything onto this. Theres plenty of space on it."

Kiyone took the disk and went back to the console. The others left her as they began their small trek down to the cargo hanger.

"You know what bother's me about this place," Ryoko remarked after a few minutes of walking. "Is that even though it looks old, some stuff here seems to new to be old..."

"Maybe they were repairing it or something," Tenchi replied.

"No," Washu said, leading them down the dark hallway. "This station hasn't seen any traffic for a small time, but Ryoko is right. Some things seem out of place."

"Well I know something here that does look as old as it is," Ayeka said under her breath. Ryoko shot her a nasty glance but held her anger down. After a little while longer, they finally reached the cargo hanger. It was fairly large, maybe large enough to dock the Yagami in. Papers and crates among other debris were scattered all about.

"..Looks like someone beat us here..." Ryoko said looking at an empty crate that was lying about.

"Hmm..." Washu said, with suspicion on her mind. They searched around for a bit. Washu recovered some things that she knew would be useful to help with the repairs. Meanwhile Sasami and Ryo-Ohki explored the some parts of the hanger. Ayeka looked at some of the papers littered about and Ryoko kicked over another empty crate in boredom. All the while, Mihoshi just wandered about aimlessly.

"We done yet?" Ryoko said sitting down on top of the crate.

"Urg...Almost," Tenchi replied from across the hanger. He was given the duty of carrying all the spare parts. Even though Washu could have easily tucked em into her little box of magic that could hold infinite amount of objects, she decided it would be better if Tenchi carried the stuff, for whatever reason.

Mean while, Kiyone was sifting through a lot of the data she had found and was downloading. She contacted Washu, who was in the middle of inspecting a piece of scrap metal. "I found out some interesting information about the planet below us."

"Oh? Like what?" Washu said, now curious and handing Tenchi the piece of metal. He lost his balance and fell over in a pile.

"The planet is one of those planets that were set up for Terraforming. Unfortunately, this planet suffered worse then Balboas. Violent Sandstorms and harsh living conditions dominate the surface. The upper atmosphere is full of highly corrosive acids making ships getting down to the surface difficult," Kiyone reported. "Also, supposedly there is, or was, a settlement on the surface but the information is a bit scattered and corrupted as well as old. Though useful, that really isnt what bother's me the most."

"Hm?" Washu responded, still curious and attentive.

"There's no logs of anything that happened on this station. No communication's, Dockings, or daily life aboard the station. It's been monitoring the space around the planet and its sun, but beyond that, nothing. Also, there's a sizeable power reactor on this station, that would, if this station is as old as some of the records claim, be extremely huge, and even so, would have been much more then needed."

"Strange indeed." Washu replied. "Im also beginning to think this place isn't what it appears to be. Im pretty much done here, so as soon as you finish up whatever you need to do, lets get out of here."

"Right." came Kiyone's response and the communication ended. She continued to tap away at the console.

Back in the hanger, Washu helped Tenchi back on his feet and pick up all the parts. She was done having fun and games with Tenchi and had them stored in her little storage cube.

"Alright people," she finally called out. "Let's go."

"Aw, and I was having so much fun..." Ryoko said sarcastically as they were walking to the door.

"I bet you did. This is probably a lot like the places you'd have fun at anyways." Ayeka remarked. "Y'know, dirty and old."

"Grr..That does it 'princess'" Ryoko said clenching her fist. "Im going to forcefully remove that smart tongue of yours"

She charged Ayeka and swung as she cringed and cowered down, ready to receive the pain, but missed and Ryoko slammed her fist through the wall near the door. She pulled it out and prepared to take a punch at the princess when klaxons began to sound. The hanger lit up in a red flash of sirens and lights, and the doors to the cargo hanger slammed shut.

"Ryoko! See what you did?" Ayeka yelled as she tried to bang her way through the closed door, but to no avail.

"What I DID?" Ryoko shot back. "If you hadn't opened your fat mouth, I wouldn't have gotten angry!"

"Will you two knock it off!" Washu commanded of the two. They stopped in mid movement to hit each other.

"Ryoko didn't cause this." Washu said assessing the situation. She contacted Kiyone using her holo laptop. "Kiyone can use the main control to get the doors open."

But she wasn't met with a calm Kiyone, but one that was running and tired. "Kiyone? Where are you?"

Static cut in and out of the communication. "Da...Washu, something hap...Ge..."

A zing was heard and the communication was cut short. Washu tried again to get ahold of her.

"Kiyone. Kiyone!" Washu repeated. A new face appeared on her monitor though.

"Washu! The station is moving in a bad way!" Zack yelled over the communication. "Get out of there!"

His communication was also cut short as a laser shot barely missed Washu's head. She quickly moved for cover, the others following. Five or so flying metallic orbs had entered the hanger through some air shafts and were now stalking Tenchi and Washu and the rest. Tenchi pulled out his Master Key and Ryoko charged up an energy ball in her hands. Protective logs appeared around them.

"Damn...," Ryoko said. She stood up and fired off her charged shot. It hit one of the flying orbs dead on, destroying it on contact. "Haha! One down."

She cut her victory short as a small hail of laser shots pin pointed her position. She charged another shot up, and fired over the edge of the crate they took shelter from. The orbs gracefully dodged it and started moving about in a strange fashion. Ryoko cursed under her breath and shot another ball of energy. Ayeka charged a shot of her own and fired it off and Mihoshi discharged a few rounds. The orbs dodged both shots easily.

"Stop!" Washu yelled. "They're reading us out, planning on a method of attack."

More orbs flew in through the airducts at the far side of the room, now making the count 16 to 6.

"We gotta get out of here," Washu said. "Or we'll be over come by sheer numbers soon enough."

"We could use Ryo-Ohki and fly out," Ryoko said.

"Wont work, hanger is to large and they'd hit her before she pulled off a full transformation, not to mention we'd be left in the open while she did it. That and we may damage the Yagami busting through the hanger walls, since were on that side of the station anyways." Washu said. She noted a small floor panel some ways behind them in a corner. "Our best bet is to escape over through that metal panel and get back to the Yagami. You two give us cover while I get that metal panel open. And we can escape through there. Sasami stay here. Tenchi Follow me."

Ayeka and Ryoko complied and began to fire off rabid discharged rounds of energy over the edge of the crate. Stray lasers slammed against the protective barrier of the logs, and a few orbs became scrap from Ryoko and Ayeka's attack. More orbs came through the open ceiling vents. Washu scrambled over with Tenchi to the panel. Tenchi powered up his Master Key and cut around the panel to get it open. He cleared the panel with Washu after a moment.

"Sasami, Mihoshi, come on!" Washu said signaling. They ran over and jumped down into the crawl space, Mihoshi first, Sasami second. Tenchi followed after her. "Ayeka! Ryoko! Come on!"

"Ayeka," Ryoko said, "You first."

She nodded and ran from where they were to Washu and jumped down into the crawl space. Ryoko got up and ran to the opening where Washu stood over. She fired some shots around her, nailing a stray orb, most missing though. She jumped down into the grate, Washu following behind. Washu stopped for a second though and turned around. She stuck a small metallic object on the edge of the opening. A transparent blue force field spanned the opening to the crawl space. The orbs clustered around it but could not get through.

"Go!" Washu called from the back.. After a minute of crawling through the small crawlspace, they came up to a long corridor. Sirens still blaring and and red lights flash on and off. They ran down the hall way, weapons drawn, into the labyrinth of the space station. After a few long minutes of sirens, red lights, and running, they found themselves running down a narrow passage. In the temporary darkness between each glare of the crimson lights, Tenchi ran into something soft. A noise of pain and frustration sounded from in front of him. When the red lights came back on again, he could see Kiyone on the floor in front of him.

"Kiyone!" Tenchi said as he helped her up. After helping her to her feet, He reached down and picked up the small disk that Kiyone just dropped after being ran into and held it out to Kiyone.  
"Heh! No Time," Kiyone said forcing past him and the others. "This way!"

They looked at her for a second before hearing a small familiar hum. Looking back to where they were going, they saw a small group of the orbs appear from the corner. The turned heel and ran. Kiyone was a good thirty meters ahead of them, and darted around corners fast. "This hall way should lead us back to the main corridor we came from!" Kiyone called out behind her. They raced after her to catch up. On the final turn Kiyone was ahead when a few orbs smashed through a vent opening in the ceiling near some heavy duty cabling. Mihoshi reactively shot a few rounds from her blaster.

"No! Wait!" Kiyone said from the other side. But it was to late. Mihoshi nailed the orbs dead on and they exploded. The explosion punctured the protective ceiling on the electrical tubing and caused an even bigger explosion which caused a collapse of both the wall and ceiling, cutting Mihoshi and the rest off from Kiyone. She ran back to the rubble. There was a small gap she could see through.

"Just go, Kiyone. Get the Yagami and get out of here." Washu called through the openings. "We'll get out going to the other end using Ryo-Ohki."

With that they parted ways. Kiyone got aboard the Yagami and quickly began to disengage the ship from the lock with the space station. After a few moments, a loud explosion rocked the Yagami. She looked out the view ports and let out a sigh of relief as the Ryo-Ohki bursted through a part of the lower half of the space station. She began to pull away and move to intercept the Ryo-Ohki when something caught her eye. Steam or some gas was venting out long strips along the flat top side. Within seconds, large paneling of the top of the space station rocketed off to reveal missile sites. Warning's instantly appeared over the dash board, all proclaiming eminent destruction. She quickly dislodged from the space station and raced towards the Ryo-Ohki. The Zenith could be seen powering up and flying away from the station as well. The Ryo-Ohki stopped and turned to run. Missile locks lit up the dash of the Yagami. Over both the Yagami and Ryo-Ohki, Zack's face popped up.

"Faster Guys FASTER!" Zack yelled. "Those are A-1 class missiles." The ship's sped off in space, and soon a hail of Missiles followed. Their speed was superior then any of the of the escaping ships. They began to weave and dart about in hopes to shake off the missiles. Zack shook off his after laying down some decoys and quickly raced to aid Ryo-Ohki and rid her of the missiles. The ships stalled for a moment wondering where the Yagami was. It roared over head of the two ships, 20 or so missiles in tow, close behind and gaining ground. Everyone watched some what stunned as the Yagami barreled towards the Station. When it was in close to it, Kiyone piloted the Yagami expertly around it creating tight turns that threw the missiles off into the atmosphere below or, to her better success, slammed them into the sides of the space station. The space station was a blaze with explosions and it began to fall planet ward, explosions racking its hull. A final explosion occured that would doom it to a slow descent to the planet below and the Yagami appeared above the blaze victorious. The space station fell in large chunks into the atmosphere, the smaller parts already blowing up into scrap as they reached the Atmosphere. On the Ryo-Ohki, the other's cheered in happiness that Kiyone piloted the Yagami, although damaged, managed to shake off the missiles and manage to bring down the space station. Clouds of fire below the Yagami, the ship looked like a champ.

"How's that for piloting?" Kiyone said over a communication.

"Impressive," Ryoko commented, and everyone seemed to agree.

"Kiyone! Look out!" A communication from the Zenith yelled in over the open frequencies. For a split second no one knew what Zack told her to look out for, but soon it was apparent. A missile streaked out from the clouds of fire. It hit the Yagami. A massive explosion tore away the lower left side of the red police cruiser, and it seemed to stall.

"Kiyone!" Mihoshi cried out.

"...Ah, thats going to take a while to fix." Kiyone said regaining her seating. A light flared up on her dash. She looked and fear and sadness struck her face. "...Mihoshi... Im sorry..."

"Kiyone?" she questioned, not understanding the comment. A streak of red crossed space again split seconds before the space station entered the atmosphere and gave its last final heaves of fire before breaking apart into oblivion. They all watched shocked as the Yagami burst apart. The ship was hollowed and falling gracefully towards the planet. Nothing left save the bridge and some of the top half.

"KIYONE!" Mihoshi cried. The Zenith and Ryo-Ohki raced out towards the Yagami, hoping to 'catch' it before it fell into the atmosphere. They didn't make it. It sailed into the acidic upper atmosphere. Small explosions dotted the surface of the destroyed ship and the small debris trailing it. Twinkles of light followed and the ship began to disintegrate in the atmosphere, but was ultimately engulfed by a large cold blue explosion.

"NOOOOOOOO" Mihoshi cried as the sparkling dust fell into the dusty wasteland below. 


	14. CH 14 No Need For Hope

Ch 14 No Need For Hopes

A few dark days in the blinding sun is how much time the Zenith remained in orbit over the desert planet, scanning and searching the surface below. But it was to no avail. Sandstorms were raging where the Yagami went down, and the odds that Kiyone survived the incident were dropping fast. Even Washu had to admit that Kiyone's chance of surviving the two missles and planet fall was slim, and now to survive down in the sandstorm seemed to really take the cake. But they kept at it. Mainly because Mihoshi insisted on it. She hadn't had decent sleep in the last few nights since the incident, always watching the monitors for some sign.

But the sandstorm below seemed to be a veil which the sensors could penetrate, and it was unlikely they would give up any time soon. It was soon after dusk, that is the Zenith drifted down so it laid in the planets shadow to improvise for nighttime. The monitoring room was dark, save the spots that were illuminated by the blue screens. No other light presented itself. Mihoshi stood silhouetted against the console, head dropped in tiredness and despair. The door behind her slid open, but she did not even turn to see who it was.

"Its hard to lose someone who's close to you," Zack said, his eyes looking over the large central monitor.

"...it's not that Im only sad because she is gone," Mihoshi said quietly, "But that for all the things I always screwed up on, and how my failures held her back, I've always regretted all that, and never had much of a chance to do something to make it up to her..."

"Im sure she would't have wanted you to do anything for her." Zack said in reply.

"...Im even thinking about right before." Mihoshi continued. "If I hadn't shot and I was with Kiyone, then maybe this wouldn't have happened...it's much easier to pilot the Yagami with two pilots."

"Depends how you look on it. We may not have been able to escape anyways, and we all could be..." Zack stopped in mid sentence. "You should get some rest. You've been up for nearly four days straight now."

"...no, Ill stay here and watch the monitors. Someone has to do it." Mihoshi replied, trying to seem a bit cheery when she wasn't the least bit.

"How bout this. For tonight, Ill rig up a make shift bed in here and you sleep while I watch the monitors?" Zack said, trying to compromise with her.

"...Ok," She smiled weakly. Zack went and got a small portable bed and brought it in and set it up, along with a chair for himself. He secured it down and kicked his feet up on the console dash as Mihoshi drifted off to sleep.

"Sigh... I pray our god's send a miracle our way, because we cant stay here much longer..." Zack said solemnly to himself staring up at the cold monitors. The night passed slowly for everyone on the ship.

Mihoshi awoke the next morning. She quickly sat up to realize the screens were off. She threw off her blankets and ran over to the console and started typing to turn it back on. It glowed a bit but shut back off and became unresponsive. She slammed her clenched fists down hard on the console as tears welled up in her eyes. She left the room in a hurry.

She came to the bridge were quite a few people were gathered. A holographic star chart was on display in front of them.

"... A few more days at most. At top speeds, Id say 4." Zack said with a touch of seriousness in his voice. "In the condition we're in, we couldn't fight back or make a clean get away."

"Why'd you turn off the search monitors!" Mihoshi said, interrupting the meeting. "Why?"

"Listen Mihoshi, we have to tell you something." Zack began to say as he turned to her.

"I don't care!" Mihoshi said back with anger. "I just want the monitors back on so we can search for her."

"Well, y'see..." Zack began again.

"Turn them back on!" Mihoshi cut him off again. Zack was becoming agitated.

"Listen, Mihoshi, we're..." He tried to say.

"Listen what?" she came back again. She was obviously mad with Zack.

"WE'RE CUTTING OFF THE SEARCH." Zack yelled. Mihoshi just stood there for a second shocked.

"...what? Why?" She finally sputtered out. "Why stop searching for her?"

Zack sighed. "Washu and I have been doing some talking along with Ryoko and Ayeka here. Washu says that her current odds of survival at the moment are less then a percent, and it was more then likely she was...was...in the second missile hit..."

He averted his eyes to the floor. Mihoshi was on the verge of tears "But...but...she could still be alive, even if its so small a chance!"

"If that were the only reason," Washu began, "Then we'd stay here till we found her or you decided that she was gone."

" While you were sleeping last night, I decided to analyze some of the information Kiyone got from the computer." Zack went on saying again, now sounding a bit tired. "The station was some kind of early warning trap for Jurai. It's been taking down Dracadian warships, or any other for that matter, while capturing the occupants inside. The station sent out a relay to a Juraian base about 8 or 9 days away from us as soon as we docked. If we don't leave soon, they will be able to track our energy signature before it dissipates."

"How long does it take?" Mihoshi asked. "The energy signature."

"About 3 days" Ryoko said, staring out the front view ports.

"And they are 4 days away at shortest?" Mihoshi enquired further.

"Yeah. But if we spend the extra day looking for her, it's a mighty big risk we take."

"...please..." Mihoshi finally asked. "Please can we stay atleast one more day and look...

Tears were in her eyes and down her cheeks, and she was begging them. Washu looked elsewhere, along with Ayeka, and Ryoko continued to stare out the view port. Zack let out a tired sigh. "12 Hours. We can continue the search for 12 more hours, but then we have to get a move on to make sure we are gone like the wind by the time that search group gets here."

"Thank you," Mihoshi said and ran out the door of the room, to go back to the monitoring room.

"Sigh... Computer, Reactivate search instruments for distress signals on the surface of Vestra." Zack said. The computer responded with an understood. "Let's pray we find her then."

Time past like a snail's pace. The timer was shown on a small section of the search monitor. It read 00:07:30. Another 7 and a half minutes and the search would be cancelled and they would move out. Still nothing from the surface. The sand storms raged on, still no end in sight. Mihoshi prayed and stared intently at the screens, not even blinking to make sure she doesnt miss anything.

00:05:40...Nothing

00:04:15...Nothing

00:02:25...Nothing

Zack watched her from the open door and said nothing. A sad expression on his face. He looked away and began to proceed to the bridge.

00:00:30 Seconds...Nothing

00:00:00...Search Cancelled.

Mihoshi fell to her knees and cried into her arms as the search instruments one by one began to shut down. The side monitors, first went black. And finally the last monitor was all that remained.

"...no...no...this cant be...she's alive..I can feel it...nooo..."Mihoshi sobbed. The final center monitor began to run its shutdown protocol when it halted in mid execution.

...Ping...

Nothingness on the monitor. The computer clicked and contemplated.

...Ping...

Mihoshi looked up. Through the dust storm and static, a red target flashed and disappeared. She sat up wide eyed quickly. She didn't take her eyes off the screen.

She dried her eyes of any excess tears and continued to stare deeply. The ship began to rumble from its depths.

...Ping...

(A distress signal) Mihoshi thought and her mind instantly raced.

"Distress Signal from Downed Ship Yagami Detected. Plotting Surface Coordinates." The computer droned. The ship rocked again. "Warning, Distance between Distress Signal and Ship is beginning to vary. Please readjust ship distance and movement to acquire coordinates."

Mihoshi was already out of that room before it could finish. She raced to the bridge. Zack was sitting in the helm and guiding the ship away from the planet. A one last farewell on the faces of most everyone to a friend lost.

"Alright... Lets pull away computer. Set target coordinates." Zack said after a moment of silence.

"Affirmative." the computer replied back.

"..Good bye, Kiyone.." Zack said. The ship began to lose view of the planet when Mihoshi burst in through the door. She was out of breath, a smile on her face. Zack stopped for a second.

"What's the matter?" Zack said turning to face her, along with everyone else.

"There's ...a ...signal! A Signal!" Mihoshi gasped in joy.

"Computer! Give me coordinates on signal!" Zack said turning back to the helm.

"Coordinates have been lost. Distance between Target and the Zenith is to great. Course of Action. Close distance between target and Zenith." the computer droned. For a moment, Mihoshi looked shocked and crest fallen at the same time. She waited on Zack's move. He sat back in his seat.

"Computer, re-orbit the Zenith and run search again." Zack said. A smile appeared on Mihoshi's face as well as everyone elses. The ship turned back towards the planet and within a few minutes was re-orbiting the desert planet Vestra. The search instruments appeared on pop up holograms on the bridge. They watched as the computer searched the surface. A break in the storm was becoming apparent, and within moments of the break, the computer painted a target on a small steep mountain range.

"Target Coordinates Acquired. Downed Yagami Distress Signal Detected." the computer droned. "Distress signal is constant, but Sand and Atmospheric disturbances are fluctuating greatly. Approximately 22 minutes until signal is lost by oncoming sand storm. Likely hood of relock on distress signal coordinates .056 percent within set time parameters before the search fleet arrives."

"Prepare the deployment shuttle" Zack said getting up from his seat. The computer gave an acknowledgment. "Lets go, Mihoshi. We only have 22 minutes to get down there and back before the sandstorm gets us. Tenchi and Ryoko, come with me please."

"I doubt she's going to be in any good condition, so Ill prepare the Medical bay for her." Washu said, opening her holo computer and typing some things in.

The landing craft creaked and buckled in the atmosphere as it descended through the acidic heavens to the source of the distress signal. Low lying clouds thundered and in the far distance a brown roaring fog could be seen. After a minute or so, the craft was darting through the sharp peaks and crevices in the mountain range. The land was desolate brown and hard as diamonds. Everything seemed to have a polished off look to it as well. Mihoshi peered out through the front window, standing in the arch way between the cockpit and the crew cabin. A long flat gurney was secured down in the middle of the crew cabin, fresh medical supplies on both sides. The computer droned something about an oncoming sandstorm due south by southwest at 220 knots.

"Were almost there..." Zack said, not looking back to Mihoshi but knowing she was standing there. "600 meters... Should be around that next turn."

Sure enough, around the next turn was a sloped sandy edge. The small landing craft gently sailed to a stop and hovered for a moment before starting to descend below the sandy slope. It stopped and glided over to the left of where the signal was originating and landed on another small edge.

"Im going to stay here to keep the engines ready, You guys go out there and get her." Zack called back from the cockpit. A side door slid open and they hopped out. It was not as expected. Even though the storm had definitely cleared out, it was still gusty and bits and particles were still flying through the air. It created a fast paced haze, so to speak. Mihoshi shielded her eyes as she surveyed the area. Not much was visible beyond a 20 or so feet, yet the beacon was close by. Ryoko and Tenchi climbed out after her as she trekked through the gusty wind and soft sand. A small slope began to form, and she slipped on it after a moment, but quickly regained her balance by blindly reaching out and grabbing a large jutting rock. She looked up and noticed there was more. And then her eyes grew wide at the horror. The escape pod was impaled upon the rock formation. Small boulders smashed off the tips of near by rocks that stuck out of the earth like needles, but through the dead center of the pod, a large rock needle had pierced it. The lights on the inside still flashing, and bloody hand prints on the gently swing pod door and the hinges could be seen. The other two following her saw it too. She fell on her knees. Tenchi walked up to her and put his hand on her right shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze to reassure her he was there for her. She touched his hand with her left. Her head bowed, she began to cry.

She got up, teary eyed, and began to walk away when something struck the top of her head. A small rock had hit her from the overhanging cliff about 20 or 30 feet above her. She looked up. She couldn't see anything past the sandy haze blowing around her, but more rocks fell from above. She squinted hard to see the edge of the cliff. For brief seconds, she saw the edge, and she turned and ran back to the craft. Tenchi looked to Ryoko, a bit bewildered, and followed after her.

"Where's Kiyone?" Zack said turning around to see Mihoshi hop aboard, with Tenchi and Ryoko soon following.

"Take us up!" Mihoshi said to Zack. "Up to the next ledge. Hurry!"

Zack looked at her a bit confused, "Alright, but we have to hurry, Storm is going to be here very soon, and we wont be able to outrun it."

With that the craft began to take off and rise to the over hanging cliff. The cliff ledge was sandy and steep. The ship rocked violently for a second before restabilizing. It pulled close to the sandy sloped edge.

"Land us." Mihoshi said opening the side door to the craft.

"I can't," came Zack's reply. "The Edge is to sandy and soft, Id just slide right off..HEY WAIT!"

But Mihoshi had already jumped from the craft onto the sandy slope below.

"...that stupid girl," Ryoko said as she peered into the sandy haze and then jumped out after her a moment later.

Mihoshi landed onto the sandy slope and began to slide, but stopped her self by clawing at the sand and getting ahold of a rock beneath it. She began to climb up the sandy hill, striving to make it to the top. The landing craft behind swayed away from the slope in the wind, which was becoming noticeably stronger. She clawed her way up to where it leveled out on a small stone crevice. She looked about her. There was a red mark on the stone. Upon closer inspection, it was a hand print. The surface below her was spattered with small drops of crimson, erratically. She climbed along the crevice, following the trail, till she came to a small opening in a steep rock wall. She climbed in. The wind began to howl outside.

"Kiyone!" Mihoshi called. Only an echo responded. "Kiyone!"

Still nothing but an echo came back to her ears. She traveled and stumbled a bit in the dark. It was getting smaller and more cramped, but she heard something faint. Jagged breathing.

"Kiyone! Im coming! Just hang on!"Mihoshi called out again into the darkness. She stumbled around till she felt something soft. She felt down, and in the dim light could barely see Kiyone propped up against the wall. She could tell by Kiyone's shallow an ragged breathing that she was barely hanging in there. She carefully began to move her, getting a hold on her and dragging her out of the small corner. She heard Kiyone groan softly and stopped and readjusted her self so she could carry Kiyone better. Mihoshi finally managed to drag her to the small cave entrance, and she really could see the extent of her wounds. Her uniform was stained red and torn in multiple places. Cuts and lacerations ran up and down her legs and arms in various spots. A cut across her hairline was visible as dried blood painted her face. She had large deep bruises at the bottom of her chest and in other parts. A makeshift bandage was tied to her left side, and dry blood from her nose and mouth began to run red anew.

"Her lung's are punctured by her own broken ribs..." Ryoko said behind her and bending down. "Stay here. Ill be back for you in a sec."

She bent down and carefully picked up Kiyone and faded into nothing ness. After a few moments, Ryoko returned, and took hold of Mihoshi and they both teleported back aboard the landing craft. Tenchi was bent over Kiyone trying to apply the bandages and help her as much as possible. The landing craft rattled and rumbled as it took off. The storm a mere minute behind them, they rose above the mountains and harsh winds with haste. Mihoshi and Ryoko went to aide Tenchi as they breached the lower atmosphere.

As she laid there on the gurney, Kiyone's eyes gradually opened. The light was blinding and her vision was blurred. She tried to open her eyes all the way, but couldn't, and soon they felt to heavy to keep open. She looked to the face on her left, noticing someone was holding her hand.

"...Mi..hoshi?" Kiyone gasped out softely.

"Try not to talk. Everything will be alright. Just hang in there ok...just...?" Mihoshi said, but her voice trailed off as the darkness consumed Kiyone again.

A soft beeping noise reached Kiyone's ears. She opened her heavy eyelids to see where she was. It was a red and white room with computers and monitors on the walls and counter tops. A strange computer object with tubing and many monitors jutting out from it hung down from the center of the long rectangular room. 5 more beds sat to her left in a row and a row of 6 across from her and down the opposing wall. There were monitors above each bed on the walls. She tried to sit up, but the energy was not in her to do so, so she just relaxed herself. She realized she was wearing a transparent oxygen mask, and a life support machine was on her left up against the wall, making soft rhythmatic beeping noises. Soft familiar snoring could be heard. Upon looking to her right, Kiyone saw Mihoshi slouched in a chair, asleep. She had a half worried look on her sleeping face, and lines crossed underneath her eyes along with dark bags from the apparent lack of sleep. Sound of footsteps reached her ears and she turned the other way.

"Y'know, I had to sedate her to get her to sleep." Washu said walking up to the bed and removing the oxygen mask from Kiyone's face so she could talk easier. "She was keen on staying here and watching over you till you woke up. Didn't want anything to happen to you, not after surviving what you just did."

"..Im sorry ... for all the trouble..."Kiyone said softly. "..thank you..."

"Its not me who you should be thanking, but Mihoshi there." Washu said pointing to the sleeping blond woman across the bed from her. "She's the one who searched for your distress signal for over 4 days straight, and found you even after your pod was destroyed on the surface of that god forsaken planet. She's also the one who's pretty much forced her self awake for nearly the last 3 days watching over you after the extensive surgery you went through. I slipped her something when I gave her the usual coffee I brought."

Kiyone looked at Mihoshi, a bit of shock on her face, but mostly tiredness.

"She really does care for you," Washu said. "Make sure you make it up to her when you are able to move around. But for the moment, that will be a while. Even with all my advances, bringing someone from the very edge of death itself cant bypass some nice long sleep and recovery."

With that Washu checked some of the equipment near by and put back on the oxygen mask before she left. Kiyone continued to stare at Mihoshi. "Ill make it up to you...Mihoshi..I promise." And with that, the blue green haired woman closed her eyes and let her dreams take her to someplace better. 


	15. CH 15 No Need For Shadow Fears

The next 3 Chapters are going to be dark twisted and so on. Just a word of warning. Since as of this post, I have no other chapters beyond 17, you can read it and it would be gravy. But after I get more chapters up beyond this, (as ch18 will be a happier lighter chapter as I will say again in ch.17's author's note) you can skip by these chapters if your not up for darker stuff. This is kinda an attempt to write horror, but its hard. Once again, if at any time in any of these chapters, a charecters personality doesnt match up, leave a message. Id rather get a flame saying that this is not how he/she would act then having it all botched up.

With that, I hope that you do enjoy these chapters. Not bad for 3 in a weeks time then eh:D

Ch 15 No need for Shadow Fears

The soft sounds of sleep could be heard through the dark corridors of the Zenith. The ship gently cruised along in space. All was serene and peaceful for the few days following the departure from the wasteland planet of Vestra. But not was peaceful for long.

Zack tossed and turned in his bed, thrashing out left and right.

"He...he...he...I've got you now, Zackalazeriath." the voice echoed in his dark dreams. "There's no escape now..."

"Who are you! Show yourself!" Zack called into the black void.

"Soon Zackalazeriath, Soon..." the voice taunted.

"Soon what?" Zack shot back into the darkness.

"Ill take it all from you Zackalazeriath, Soon I WILL!" The voice shot back. "Ahahahah HAHAHAAAA. FEEL THE FEAR!"

A wave of horror rushed over Zack and he shook, and visions of ungodly evil flooded his eyes, and all he could do was scream in horror. He awoke to a sweat on the floor as the fall from his bed wrenched him back to reality. His hand and arm still spasmed from the dream. He sat up and held his head in his hands and slicked back his hair after a moment to clear away the sweat, only for it to spring backforward after a moment.

Warning sirens sounded off. The room's lights automatically lit up and a red glow began it be emitted from the small sirens on the wall. He raced out of his room. The computer droned "Intruder Alert." A door up ahead slowly opened from the crew quarters that was set up for the girls.

"...mm huh? Whats going on?" Ayeka said standing in the door way, half asleep. Washu came up behind her In her night gown, Sasami following on the other side. Ryoko's snores could still be heard.

"Stay in your rooms!" Zack called out as he ran past. "And keep the door secured!"

Tenchi came out of the door opposite Ayeka's, Master Key in hand in his shorts and white t-shirt. "Zack, whats going on!"

"I dunno. Follow me to the bridge" Zack said calling behind him. Tenchi followed. "Computer! Lock down all compartments, and set up security turrets at the infirmery!"

The computer clicked in acknowledgment. The sirens and red lights continued to roar in the hallways of the ship. Within moments, they were on the bridge. Zack ran over to a console and began typing. Tenchi drew his beam saber and stood in an attack stance towards the only door to the bridge. After a moment the alert went away, and the lights returned to normal.

"Computer, open up all view ports and scan the ship for breaches." Zack said, still facing the console. The front port opened up, and the sea of space greeted them. "Hm, no ships or anythi...WHAT THE HELL!"

Zack stumbled backwards startled as something hit the bow port view. It looked like some mangled bloodied and half burnt away body sprawled across the port viewer. It was still moving and it's 'head' exhaled and inhaled and bit at the outer glass. "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?" Zack yelled and turning to Tenchi while pointing at the horror across the window.

Tenchi turned to see Zack on the floor against the console. "What's what?"

Zack turned back to the window. The view port blast shields were closed. Zack pulled himself up to his feet, but steadied himself on the console."Com-Computer, did you just close the blast shields to get rid of what ever the hell that was?"

"The blast shields were never opened. No command was received to open the blast shields" The computer reported back to him.

"Open em up, now!" Zack said with urgency. The standard affirmative was messaged and the blast shields creaked and moved down. The sea of space once again met their view. Zack walked over the window and looked all around it. No signs of the thing remained. As if it wasnt even there. "It was...was...hazol, I have no idea what the hell it was..."

He shrugged it off as maybe a day-nightmare of some kind. "What's our current heading?"

"Currently on coarse to Star Point A: The Gridgen System. Estimated time of arrival in star time, 126 Hours, 48 minutes, and 34 Seconds." came the reponse.

"..ok, And the scan?" Zack continued to enquire. Tenchi lowered his beam saber, now feeling that there was no threat.

"Scan negative. Shields are at 0 syphon. Hull Integrity is at 58. Structural Integrity 97. All damages resulting from Prior engagements. Last damages received as of 96 Star Hours ago. A bio form scan was ran after the initial scans. No new entities have been detected internally or externally." the computer informed Zack. He began to breath easier and relaxed a bit at the news.

"Alright," Zack finally said. "Nothing seems to be the problem. A false alarm then. Let go back, then..."

They began to walk back to their rooms, and struck of a conversation as to the cause of the false alarm. Everything was quiet again, until screams shattered the silence.

"Its from the girl's room!" Tenchi said, drawing his master key and sprinting down the hall way. Zack followed suit, creating a small energy knives in his hands. They came to the door. Screams heard inside from various people. A grotesque snarl and roar could be heard as well.

"OPEN UP!" Tenchi cried as he banged on the door. Zack ran up to the door.

"COMPUTER! OPEN THIS DOOR!" Zack demanded. No response. "COMPUTER! Damn It! What is going on?"

He began to work with the panal near the door but it short circuited.

"Stay Away! NOO!" A voice inside screamed. Something hit the floor. A tearing noise was heard along with the splashing of liquid.

"You BASTARD! Gah...ah...ge...ah..."Something snapped and a loud thud hit the inside wall adjacent to Tenchi.

"GOD! OPEN THIS DOOR!" Tenchi yelled slamming on it. He took his blade and began to try to cut away at the door, but cursed when it didnt seem to have any effect. Zack began to hammer away at the door along with Tenchi.

"STAY BEHIND ME SASswipeGAH.splat." Came another voice. It sounded like Washu's.

" LESTA HAZOL! WE HAVE TO GET THIS DOOR OPEN!" Zack yelled, now clawing away at the door, using his flame daggers to try and cut at it. "COMPUTER OPEN THIS DAMNED DOOR!"

Banging from the other side of the door rang through the Dracadian alloy. "TENCHI HELP ME! HEL" A bone crunching slam hit the door leaving an outward dent, and all was quiet in the room. Tenchi and Zack froze. Something wet seeped around their feet. It oozed crimson red.

"COMPUTER! OPEN THIS VANGRAD DAMNED DOOR!" Zack yelled one last time before. The door slid open and they burst through.

"Ah!" Ayeka said startled. "Lord Tenchi! Whats wrong?"

Zack and Tenchi looked about the room. Everything was calm and quiet. Sasami sat on a bed with Ryo-Ohki. Ayeka had just gotten off the corner of the very same bed when Tenchi and Zack burst in. Washu leaned against a wall and looked at them with seriousness while Ryoko was still sleeping. Tenchi and Zack, however, were sweating hard, gasping for air and wide eyed and red faced with fear and urgency.

"What wrong, Lord Tenchi?" Ayeka said walking over as Tenchi backed up against the wall and slid down it, till he was sitting on the floor. "Tenchi?"

He grabbed her close and embraced her in a hug.

"..oh.." Ayeka muttered, completely caught off guard. "AH!"

Ryoko kicked Ayeka away from Tenchi. "What the hell do you think you were doing? Acting all concerned and caring?"

Ayeka rubbed her head. "You blithering dolt! He hugged me! Not that there's anything wrong with that!"

"And why would he want to hug the likes of you?" Ryoko asked, anger in her voice.

"Well, it is obvious, y'know?" Ayeka said, now putting on her 'princess' act and rose to her feet.

"And what is SO obvious?" Ryoko asked, now toeing the mark.

"That IM who he prefers!" the princess replied

"Really Now?" came Ryoko. "Who would want an ugly flat chested thing like you?"

"Grr!" Ayeka growled. She didnt like it when Ryoko made fun of her figure. "Atleast I act like a woman, you bardyard beast!"

"THAT DOES IT!" the pirate roared. "Lets take this outside!"

"Fine by ME!" screamed a princess. Tenchi got up, a warm smile on his face. He put one hand on Ryoko's shoulder, and another on Ayeka's. They paused and turned to him, anger drained from this simple gesture.

"Im really just glad your all alright. Both of you." He hugged both of them at once, and they blushed. Sasami came up to Tenchi.

"Tenchi, whats wrong?" she asked, and he let go of the princess and pirate to talk to Sasami. They both drifted off in their own fantasies for a moment, not even realizing Tenchi had let them go.

"That's what Id like to know..." Washu said looking suspiciously at Tenchi and then to Zack who was propping himself up with a wall and an elbow. "Just what happened that made this sudden change of mood?"

"pant...something like a nightmare when your awake, that's what..." Zack said looking up to Washu. She was about to ask what he meant when the high pitched scream of automated gun fire could be heard echoing through the dark hallways of the Zenith. This brought Ayeka and Ryoko out of a daze and instantly alert. They turned to Zack, as he realized where it was originating from."THE INFIRMARY!

The group raced out of the crew cabin and back into the deep abyss of the hallways. The automated gunfire had ceased, and the sound of metal being twisted and contorted could be heard echoing ahead of them. They dashed around another corner. A scream. Gunfire. They ran as fast as they could. They turned the final corner, and could see the sentry guns lay in ruin, and the door of the infirmary had been turned into scrap. They stopped as something agilely jumped out of the door way and down the other way into the darkness. Shot's fired out the doorway.

"What the is that?" Ayeka asked, half startled by the 'thing'.

"I don't know but it isnt friendly!" Ryoko said running forward and firing off a charged shot into the darkness. A scream of pain from something echoed back to them, a loud thumping and then nothing. Ryoko chased down the hall a little bit but returned after a moment. "Nothing..."

"What's going on here?" Washu asked, now beginning to think something was definitely wrong.

"Seems like some alien is aboard the ship." Ayeka said.

"We'll, only one person to ask what that was," Zack said now walking in front of the door.

Zwipp. Zack grimaced and was forced backwards as a shot hit him in the shoulder. Inside the dark infirmary came a voice.

"St-STAY BACK, ZACK!" A scared Mihoshi called out. "Stay back or Ill KILL YOU, or what ever you are!"

Washu helped drag Zack away from the door, still grimacing at the sharp pain in his shoulder.

"Ayeka, Sasami, look after Zack, Ill see if I can talk to her." Washu said getting up. She walked over to the door and called into the Darkness. "Mihoshi? Is that you? This is Washu."

"Is..Is Zack gone?" called out a voice in the darkness.

"Yes, Zack is gone...Im coming in, alright?" Washu said to the darkness.

"N-NO!" You stay right there!" Mihoshi called back. "I-I don't trust you!"

"Mihoshi, its just me alright? Washu. No one else." the scientist called back. " I just want to see that you and Kiyone are alright. I promise Im not going to do anything."

There was quietness for a moment. Washu stood apprehensive, sure that Mihoshi had her blaster pointed dead on, with the intent to kill if need be.

"...O-ok. But just you!" came the response. "But stay against the doorway light, and don't make any sudden movements!"

Washu nodded, sure Mihoshi saw it, and walked in slowly. She could see by the time she was half way across the room that Mihoshi had over turned a bed and Kiyone and her were behind it. As she got closer, she noticed that Kiyone was not dressed, and Mihoshi's clothing were in rags. She ran forward as soon as she knew Mihoshi recognized her and thought it was safe. Mihoshi began to sob. "What happened to you?"

"I woke up and saw Zack on top of Kiyone, doing...doing..." Mihoshi sobbed unable to complete her own sentence. "And then he attacked me, and started to cut at me and...and..."

"You sure it was Zack." Washu asked sternly.

"I-i-t Looked like him, but he was..." Mihoshi sobbed.

"Listen, you have to tell me if it was Zack you saw. Was it him? Was it Zack?" the scientist questioned. Mihoshi just sobbed.

"It..it wasn't him..." Kiyone said in the corner, now pulling off the blanket off the turned over bed and covering herself. Washu could barely see her face, but it was full of a mixture of feelings, primarily fear and disgust. Her eyes seemed far away and silent. "His eyes...they didnt glow softly, but were black and unkind...and his voice was different too..."

Ryoko and Tenchi had since walked in and heard the latter half of what Mihoshi and Kiyone said.

Tenchi helped turn over the bed and Ryoko helped Kiyone to her bed, as she was still weak from the prior ordeal. Washu had gotten another blanket for Mihoshi to help cover her up. She turned on the lights and inspected Kiyone and Mihoshi for abuse and foul play, but nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary, except Mihoshi's tattered clothing and Kiyone's lack of clothing. "Were just going to go out into the hall and talk with Zack, alright?"

Mihoshi and Kiyone nodded., and they proceeded out. Faint talking between Mihoshi and Kiyone could be heard soon afterwards. Zack was still propped up against the wall, rubbing his shoulder, Ayeka holding a rag to his shoulder. Washu stopped a second before turning to Zack to talk with Tenchi.

"Tenchi, Zack was with you the whole time, right?" she asked.

"Yeah," Tenchi said. "He was even the one who ordered those sentry guns to be here, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember." Washu said looking down in thought. "They say they saw Zack but it wasn't him, You two looked like hell when you got to our cabin, even though nothing happened that I was aware of, we see that strange creature too... Something is definitely wrong, here."

She turned to Zack who was looking up at her after over hearing his name. "What do you mean they saw me?"

"They say you broke into the infirmary," Washu said, not going into further detail.

"Where would I find the time to break into the infirmary when I was with you guys the whole time? Urg.." He shifted himself, causing a moment of pain.

"Let me look at that..." Washu said bending down and inspecting Zack's wound. It was nothing more then a flesh wound, even though it should have been more because she was sure Mihoshi had set her blaster to a lethal setting. "Ah, its nothing. Suck it up."

"Hey, you didn't get shot." Zack replied, a bit agitated.

"Fine fine, Ill put some salve on it to take care of the pain and aid healing." Washu said, now summoning her holo laptop. But it did not come on her command. "Huh? I cant summon up my laptop."

A moment later, Tenchi's beam saber began to flicker and it went out. He tried to recall it, but it gave a few sparks and nothing more. "My saber!"

Ayeka quickly summoned up her protective logs, or tried to. She could not summon up them either. "I can't summon my logs either. What's going on?"

Ryoko, fearing something might be wrong, tried to summon her own. He showed bright in the darkness.

"Whew, atleast mines works." Ryoko said with a sigh of relief, but it was short lived as her own beam saber dissipated within seconds of her last comment. "No way!"

"Help me up." Zack said to Sasami. He tried to ignite his own weaponry, but could not do so either. "What the? Impossible."

"What's going on!" Washu said frustrated that her holo laptop would not come to her, and even worried that they could be very well defenseless.

Graaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh.

The screamish sound echoed down the hallways to the group. Something in the dark hallway could be seen moving along sluggishly. They squinted to get a better look at what it was in the darkness.

"...I think its time we go back in the infirmary!" Zack said now seeing what was coming to them from the darkness. It was like a freakishly misshapen zombie, it's large mouth hanging open, piles of teeth lining. It dragged a long claw like arm, the other one something of a scythe. It's eyes pure black like obsidian. It took up the whole hallway. It was all the way down the other end of the hall. They ran into the Infirmary and started to pile stuff in front of the door way. Ayeka looked out the door again. It was half way there. She blinked in horror. It was an arm's length away when she opened her eyes. She screamed and drew back.

"Holy Hell!" Zack said drawing back from the barricade. The monster broke through it in one swipe.

GraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaH!

Zwipp Zwipp

The monster's head lurched back and it fell to the floor. A slime seemed to ooze from it's head.  
Mihoshi stood from the corner, panting, holding her blaster still in the position she killed the hideous thing with. Washu stepped over to it.

"I've never seen anything like this..." she said, half panting. "How'd something this big get so close so fast..."

"Look's like you had an alien problem.." Mihoshi said from the other corner, now lowering her blaster.

Tenchi and other other's looked to Mihoshi.

"Damn, nice shooting." Ryoko commented.

"Yeah," Tenchi said in agreement.

"Where'd it go?" Ayeka said. Everyone turned to where it fell, but saw nothing but Washu kneeling over empty floor.

"I-I don't know." Washu said. "I just blinked and it was gone. Not a trace left."

"I still cant get any of my natural weapons back." Zack said trying to summon of a fiery sword or daggers.

"Me neither." Tenchi said negatively.

Scra...uhhhhhhhhhh...scree scree...

Noises echoed out in the hall. Everyone froze to listen. Zack slowly walked around the toppled barricade and looked out the hall.

Scree scraww...

Something moved. Not just something. Somethings. Zack concentrated his gaze to see if he could see what it was. The other's saw him beginning to back up. "Guy's...Grab Kiyone and lets go. NOW!"

They did not hesitate or ask questions. Tenchi quickly grabbed Kiyone and they all filed out past the barricade and down the hall. Sasami, in curiosity, paused when leaving the door and looked to where the noises came.

"Aieeeeeeeeeeee." she screamed. Something like skeletons with bloodied and beaten skin draped over their frames crawled upon the walls and floors like spiders. Instead of hands, they had scythe like bones coming out of their wrists. No eyes visible, just empty sockets and blunt decayed teath.

SCRAAAAAAAAAAAA

They hissed and with with unholy speed raced down the hallway after the fleeing group. Sasami tripped and fell backwards, but Ryoko quickly grabbed her and bolted down the hallway.

"Hurry!" Zack called out leading them down the dark passages of the ship. "Computer! Intruder Alert! Security Protocol 01326!...Computer! COMPUTER! Damn!"

No response as Zack yelled out for the main computer of the Zenith. He led them down a hallway but quickly double backed to go the other way as soon as more of those things seemed to spawn from the shadow's in front of them. The other's were getting tired from the constant running and turning, as they could not defend themselves, and it seemed that at almost every turn, those creatures of nightmare seemed to be in there path.

"Almost there!" Zack said, now panting. The things were catching up. "THERE! IN THOSE DOUBLE DOORS! NOW!"

Zack ran up and waved his hand in front of a red orb on a door. It glimmered and the two double doors it sat between opened up. They ran inside the dark room, as Zack sealed the door behind him. Their breathing could be heard.

"It's dark in here..." Sasami said. "Im scared."

"Me, too..." Ryoko whispered to her.

WHAM... WHAM... WHAM WHAM...WHAM...

Noises of something banging hard on the steel could be heard that instantly startled everyone in the dark room.

WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM...

The dreaded thought is that those things would bust through the door any second and they would all surely perish, but a frightening silence followed instead. Ragged breathing and heart beats in the darkness.

After a moment, they heard some fumbling around, and the lights came on. Zack had found the light switch. They were in a large rectangular room now with computer terminals and wall screens mounted periodically from each other laid against the two side walls. A large emptied wall with a large Dracadian symbol or logo was on the wall opposite the doors. A hatched red and yellow strip of tape on the ground with Dracadian lettering sat about 10 feet from that wall. Zack ran up to a terminal and began typing something in.

"Yes, it still works." Zack said. He turned to the wall mounted monitor, and touched a small box. A sub menu came up and he proceeded through that for another moment. Then he turned his attention to the empty wall. Red lights began to blink and a small long dull warning sound let out. The wall immediately broke away into smaller rectangular parts They shifted around as mechanical arms began to appear out behind the wall. A table elevated itself out of the floor beyond the red and orange strip. The machine's worked with haste drawing out parts, boxes and crates and other objects from the depths of the wall. After a moment the arms retreated back into the wall and the smaller rectangular parts reassembled back into the wall and the sirens and lights stopped. Zack moved foward to the table with crates. He opened up a crate and dug into it, after a moment pulling out a small rifle. He went over to a smaller box and pulled out what appeared to be a small orb. He put it near the base of the gun and the it seemed to absorb it right through the metal. He fiddled with some other small parts and threw it over to Tenchi, who had by now put Kiyone down against a near by terminal.

"So this is a Dracadian armory..." Ryoko said, now understanding the room she stood in. Sasami stood next to her and looked about as well.

"Here, Catch!" Zack said. Tenchi caught it a bit thrown off by its weight. Zack quickly assembled another rifle for Ryoko and tossed it to her.

"Wow this is heavy." Tenchi commented, looking over the strange weapon. Ryoko just looked at it with a bit of contempt and indifference.

He handed a rifle to Washu, who looked it over extensively. She was a bit impressed with it already, not even seeing how strong it was. Zack pulled another weapon, smaller in design and gave it to Ayeka. She accepted it without question and looked at it.

Zack pulled out a weapon that looked something like a sub machine gun. Its frame was boxier and more squashed then the rifle like weaponry everyone else save Ayeka, Sasami, Mihoshi and Kiyone had been issued.

"It's real simple alright." Zack finally said. "Point and shoot."

"Why not just stay here?" Ryoko questioned, still not interested in the toy, as she thought of it, she had been issued.

"Because I cant control the Zenith from here, and there's no food or water here or any other commodities." Zack began. "And I don't know how long those doors will hold. Im also real curious how come my computer didn't pick up those 'things' when it performed a bio scan"  
"So then where are we going to go then?" Ayeka asked next.

"The bridge detaches from the ship and can act as an escape shuttle in itself. We'll lose most of our weaponry among other things, but atleast we'll be safe from ..those.." the dracadian said. "Mihoshi, please carry Kiyone, and Ayeka keep close to her and Sasami. The rest of us will act as guard. Alright, lets roll..."

Zack moved to the door and waited for everyone to ready themselves. He gave a look as if to ask if they were ready. They nodded a yes. He cocked his gun and it may a vwering sound. A faint glow surrounded Zack for a moment before disappearing. He then held up his hand and stalled a moment, before bracing his gun and waving his hand in front of the orb. Nothing happened. He waved it again. Still nothing. He looked at it puzzled before he spun around along with everyone else to the noise of the warning sirens from the wall again. The wall activated, metal plates shifting, arms extending. It began however, to move irratically. The wall jerked violently and unhinged itself from the surrounding frame and began to creak and crawl forward, loud screeches of noise made from steel scratching across steel.

"Thats...not...possible." He said wide eyed.

"Hurry and open the door and get us the hell out of here!" Ryoko said turning back to Zack. He spun around and tried to open the lock again. No response. He tried again and agian. Nothing. Until he noticed a swirling black cloud start to grow inside the red orb, till it was no longer red, but pure black. His mouth hanged open, not sure what to make of what just happened.

ZVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVPHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Zack turned around to see that Tenchi had fired a charged shot at the wall. It punched a hole in it but it still kept crawling forward, as if alive, and swung viciously with its many mechanical arms at the group of people. Washu and Ryoko joined in the fight, firing charged rounds into the wall. It groaned but still kept coming.

"If you don't hurry, Zack," Tenchi yelled, "Were going to die!"

Zack turned back and continued with the door. Nothing. He fired a couple of rounds into the door. Nothing but bullet holes.

"GRRR, To Hell with this Door!" Zack said finally in frustration. He stood back away from the door, and a red glow emanated from him, The other's glanced back, feeling a wave of heat behind them. Zack clicked a notch on his weapon. "RRRRRRRRRRRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The weapon jolted and glowed red as a powerful blast of concentrated flame burst from the gun at the double doors. The wall glowed as the flames lashed, licked, and leaped against the double doors. After a moment, he let go of the trigger and the weapon slowly returned back to its grey black color and the glow faded away from Zack. The door had a melted hole in it, easily large enough to fit a person through, though the edges glowed fiery red with heat.

"Go!" Zack called signaling the other's to go. The wall still crashed after them, now full of holes, but still able to crawl on forward and lash out at them. "This way!"

They ran down the hall. Scuttling noises could be heard in the vents. They dared not think what thing made those sounds. They just charged forward running, and turning corners. Zack lead them as fast as he could, but it was obvious he was very tired and would need rest soon. The creatures from before the Armory appeared, once again cutting off their paths. They were lead up to an elevator eventually, which they all piled on. Zack hit the button which would take them to the level of the bridge. The elevator rose slowly, and then gained some momentum.

Zack relaxed against the transparent glass. Ryoko let out a sigh of relief.

"pant Whew, atleast a small break..." Mihoshi commented, panting from the fatigue. A spark flew up from beneath the elevator. "Oh no..."

The metal underneath the elevator groaned, and it came to a sudden stop. It was between levels.

" ...this isn't what I think it is..." Ayeka prayed. CLANK. "AHH"

The elevator dropped a few feet rather fast and stopped. Everyone was forced to the floor, being thrown off balance. Metal groaned, and the elevator began to shake and buckle from underneath.

"Its going to break. We have to get out!" Zack said. Kachink. They plummeted. Floors raced by as they screamed. The elevator emitted a high pitched scream as it plummeted. The numbers on the panel flying by.

10 9 8 7 6 5

Almost the last floor they saw in horror.

4 3 2 1

They tensed up and clenched each other tightly for the impact

Ding. The transparent sliders opened on the level of the bridge. They all slowly opened there eyes, breathing heavy. They scrambled out of the elevator. The sliders closed calmly.

"W-what was that..."Kiyone finally managed to say.

"Vangrad, lets just get out of here." Zack said, still sitting on the floor looking at the elevator. It made another ding and slowly decended. They got up and ran towards the bridge. The opened the door and closed it. Ryoko and Tenchi remained at the door, rifle's ready.

"Computer, Disengage and jettison the main decks of the Zenith, were getting the out of here." Zack commanded as he took his seat at the helm.

"Affirmative." The computer said as if it did not matter either way. "...Malfunction. Couplings on decks 1-7 are failing to disengage. Cannot disengage bridge."

"Dammit! Find a way!" Zack yelled back.

"Warning, Proximity Alert. Battle Zone being Set up." The computer responded, however. Everyone turned around shocked at to what the computer was saying.

"What? Open main views!" Zack commanded. The blast shields lowered allowing them to view into space. "No..."

They all stood in horror as his last word echoed through the room. A Juraian battalion was circled around the Zenith.

" 70 enemy targets detected." The computer warned. "Approximately 1 minute till they are within firing range. Warning, Energy spikes detected from all hostile targets. Enemy cannons are coming on line."

"Shit! Jump Us JUMP!" Zack commanded in a panic.

"Warning, Malfunction. Primary Jump coils on decks 8-12 have been disengaged due to connection loss."

"Power up the shields and thruster's to max!" Zack commanded as his next course of action.

"Unable to comply. Syphoning system is malfuncti...malfunc..malfunc.." The computer monitors began to fizzle about them and then went black. The power shut off and the door from which they came slowly slid open. Emergency lights came on as Zack and the other's became weightless.

"Shit!" Zack cursed.

"Ayeka Look!" Sasami said pointing out the window. Buds of light began to appear on the Juraian warships. Ayeka hugged Sasami close, realizing they would soon no longer be apart of this universe.  
The warships fired simultaneously, and a bright wave of energy charged at the bridge of the Zenith. The room filled with white light and they shielded themselves from it.

Tenchi opened his eyes. He was still on the bridge of the Zenith, along with everyone else, who also began to open their eyes and realize they were still on the bridge of the Zenith.

"Computer!" Zack called out, "Where are the enemy targets!"

"Enemy contacts, 0. Last recorded enemy contact was of 99 Star Hours ago." The computer droned.

"...O-Open main view ports." Zack commanded. The computer acknowledged and the blast shields slid down. Space, once again, was all to be seen.

"This must be some kind of nightmare,"Mihoshi said, looking out into space.

"Its to real to be a nightmare," Washu replied.

...SCRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

The screech from the monster's before echoed from the depths of the ship.

"It must be those things playing mind games on us!" Ayeka said, fear in her voice.

"I say we go out and kill those things," Ryoko said.

"They can dent the doors of this ship, what do you think they are going to do to flesh and blood?" Kiyone said from the floor.

WHAM

The turned to the single door of the bridge. Zack got out of his seat and picked up his rifle.

WHAM

A dent was left in the door.

WHAM..WHAM

WHAM

WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM

The door began to buckle and dent.

WHAM SCRITCH

A long scythe like bone pierced the door. It yanked at the door.

WHAM SCRITCH WHAM SCRITCH

WHAM WHAM WHAM SCRITCH

More scythe like bones pierced the door and began to pull on it. Ryoko and Tenchi back away.

SCREE SCRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

SCRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

The door groaned and began to bend outward, like it was being sucked off by great force.

SCRAAAAA SCRAAAAAAAAAAAAA

The low gurgled screech taunted them through the door. Zack stepped up closer to Ryoko and Tenchi, weapon ready. Ayeka held her hand gun ready, as did Mihoshi and Washu hold their weapons ready. The metal looked like it would give away any moment.

SCRAAAAAAAAAAAAAA SCRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

WHAM SCRAAAAAAAAAAA

It was obvious everyone was afraid, guns gently rattled in everyone's hand. Eyes on the door. Ryoko pulled back her trigger and the gun blared. Tenchi and everyone else followed suit. The door began to be studded with bullet holes, but soon enough the door flew away into the darkness and those things leaped and crawled through that doorway, only to meet a hail of bullets. But it seemed to many to great. There seemed like an infinite number and they were slowly gaining ground in the hallway and starting to get through the door.

Zack's ammo ran out fast, since he used most of it up getting out of the armory. He pulled off another small orb that was attached to the side of his gun and fed it to his gun. It stuck for a second and he banged on his gun. It finally went in, but noticed for a moment between the shots a small hum. Something mechanical was running. He looked to his left and noticed that the large syphon cylinder had glowing black light running up and along its sides. A small piece of panel near a floor connection ajar.

"COMPUTER! SHUT DOWN SYPHON CORE!" Zack yelled through the gunfire. The things were gaining ground.

"Warning, Syphon core shut down will lose shielding abilities as well as jump abilities. Weapon systems will drop to 50 and power out put will suffer." the computer warned.

"COMPUTER! I GAVE YOU A COMMAND! NOT ASKED FOR WARNINGS" Zack yelled. Ryoko's and Tenchi's guns clicked empty and they looked at them. Another click across the room sounded. The things crawled in through the door and leapt at Ryoko and Tenchi, since they were closest, mouths wide and dark with their scythe hands extended for the kill.

SCRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

"Syphon Core Shutting Down" the computer bellowed. The ship's computers clicked and the core turned dead black.. The monster's faded into thin air as they leapt right through Ryoko and Tenchi like ghosts. Everyone but Zack looked bewildered but sighed with hope that the things were gone.

"Warning, Proximity Alert." the computer announced.

They all turned to the front window, expecting the horror to continue. But what met there eyes startled them. They were no longer in space, but in a large dark hanger of some kind. 


	16. CH 16 No Need For Nightmares Part I

CH 16 - No need for Nightmares (Part I)

"Warning, Proximity Alert." the computer announced again. "We are docked within unknown containment area."

"Computer, where are we?" the Dracadian asked, not understanding his computer.

"Scans reveal that the Zenith is docked in some kind of Containment Area." the computer told him.

"What do you mean containment area?" Tenchi asked the computer.

"We are in an unknown dock." the computer said simply.

"Well un dock and get us out of here." Zack commanded.

"Unable to comply. The Zenith has couplings locking it down to the dock." the AI said. "Trying to over ride...Over ride failed. Unable to contact central command computer."

"Computer display the locks." commanded Zack. A 3D holographic wire frame model of the ship appeared after a moment. The ship showed up in green, as red objects appeared on the holographic wire frame model.

"Class 6 Holding Couplings detected on external sections 2D, 4C, 12H, 4G, 2F." The computer informed those in the bridge. "The Zenith is unable to break away from couplings without cause critical damage to the ship."

"What is going on?" Ayeka said, now regaining her nerves after that horrific ordeal.

"Hold on, Ill explain in a minute... Computer, what of the Dock?" Zack told Ayeka, and then the computer.

"Initial scans reveal this dock is a Titan Class Docking Bay," droned the computer. Another wire frame hologram appeared. Some red door like blotches lit up. "Four entry and exit points for personal detected. The computer cannot detect anything beyond the dock walls. Distortions and interference detected from dark ether energies. Heavy unknown energy source detected approximately 2200 meters above current position. Unable to determine structure housing unknown energy source."

"Zack, what's going on?" Ayeka becoming impatiant. It was a general feeling around the room.

"Computer, Data Logs as of 3 star hours ago." Zack commanded. A screen appeared.

Static.

"5 Hours"

Static

"8 Hours?"

Static

"Computer.."

"Corruption has been detected in the data logs. Last recording was 9 Hours and 46 Minutes ago, Star Time." the computer cut him off.

"Zack!" Ayeka demanded.

"What!" He said turning to her.

"What is going on?" she asked again. Zack sighed and sat down in the helm's seat. He rubbed his face and held his head in his hands.

"...Im not sure exactly, but I think we've been under some kind of spell." Zack finally said. They looked at him, not following what he meant. "What I mean to say, is that Shadow Ether has been flowing through out the ship and was being manipulated, causing us all to see hallucinations. Chances are, if we go back to the places earlier, there wont be any damage, except maybe the Armory..."

"What do you mean no damages? Just loo.." Ryoko stopped in mid sentence, pointing to the doorway of the bridge. The door was studded with bullet holes, but outside of that, it was in one piece, still in the frame with no dents or holes or claw marks. "..It's there again..."

"..So thats the power of Shadow Ether..." Washu said grimly. She understood now. "Thats probably why there were no wounds on Mihoshi or Kiyone."

"Wait just a second! Your telling me this whole time we were hallucinating?" Ryoko said, still not believing it. "No, that was to real."

"Ether in concentrated amounts can have such effects." Zack said getting up. "I believe that for a while, we've been in this hanger, and that my Syphon Cylinder here was tampered with to start drawing in the surrounding shadow ether, and when right, the nightmare began..."

Ayeka looked out into the hanger. "So were in a Dracadian ship?"

"A Sentinel class maybe..." Zack replied "But honestly, I don't know. The hanger is larger then that of a Sentinel's and is different in build...Hell, you could probably fit a Sentinal Class in the hanger by the looks of it. That and my computer cant detect anything beyond the walls of this hanger."

"Who cares, Lets just get out of here." Ryoko said, now trying to get ontop of more important matters.

"We cant." Zack said after a moment.

"Why not?" Mihoshi asked.

"The ship is being clamped down by high grade Dracadian Padlocks. Only things strong enough to take em off are Fission Cutters." Zack said sitting back down and now leaning back in the chair. "So unless any of you have one of those in your pockets..."

The room was quiet. Washu stared at the floor a moment before something seemed to click with her. She held her hands out, and her holo laptop brought itself to her sight. She smiled widely.

"I can summon my laptop again." she said, enthusiastically. The other's tried their weapons again. And, like nothing ever happened, they too sprang forth from their respectful places. Zack ignited a small flame in his palm, and then clenched his fist to extinguish it.

"Well thats good an' all, but it doesn't help us much." Zack said, repeating the action in his hand.

"Maybe I can hack the central computer of this ship, and we will be able to free the locks and leave." She said as her fingers began to dance as lightning across the translucent keyboard. "Mm-hmmm...Mm hmmmmmmm... Ok Got it!"

Zack said upright looking at her astonished. "Were free then?"

"Nopes..."Washu said. "Just starting up my hacking programs."

Everyone face faltered. She resumed typing and after a moment spoke. "I can't get the locks off. There's something that's like a computer I guess controlling this ship, but I cant contact it or make a good enough connection. Interference."

"Its probably that energy source a few levels above us, which is probably my guess a syphon cylinder." Zack said, assessing her input. "If that's what it is, then thered be no point hacking into the computer. The ether in this place is preventing it."

"Washu, why don't you just rig up something to cut through the locks?" Ryoko questioned the red haired scientist.

"Because, my dearest Ryoko..."she began annoyed. "A fission cutter is a VERY complex type of cutter and, unlike in cartoons, it would take me a while to actually get one that we could move easily to each of the padlocks that would also have sufficient power to do the job."

"So then what are we going to do?" Sasami asked worried.

"Longer we stay here, the more danger we'll be in," Ayeka added.

"We've got a few choices." the dracadian thought. "We can wait here for Washu to build a portable fission cutter, or..."

"Bust em off!" Ryoko said with enthusiasm.

"You just don't listen, do you?" Zack said.

"Well then why not just fly out of here with Ryo-Ohki?" Ryoko said back.

"Because we don't know where we are in relation to the rest of this place, and Im not leaving my ship behind." Zack said, rubbing his eyes.

"That and we cant get into Jurai space with the Ryo-Ohki." Ayeka added. "Jurai is probably on a heightened alert, and thanks to your infamous and atrocious record, trying to sneak in with your ship would be near impossible."

Ryoko stuck her tongue out at Ayeka.

"We could see if we can reach an actual computer terminal and work from there." Kiyone suggested.

"Yeah that could work, but we'd have to go outside into the hanger," Zack said.

"How do you know this is a ship?" Mihoshi questioned.

"Because you cant just pluck a ship out of the middle of space and dock it into a space station or planetary dock without heavily damaging it," Washu said. "Anyways, that wont do, Id noticed if there were any close by accessible terminals. We'd probably have to go deep into the ship."

"That looks like something we may have to do anyways." Tenchi said.

"Aye, but the shadow ether is going to stop us from hacking, and may even cause a problem for our natural weaponry..." Zack said. "I bet it's probably safe guarding the system, too."

"Zack what are those?" Washu asked randomly.

Washu was pointing to the small detailed red objects on the wire frame hologram of the Zenith. She touched one and it zoomed in on it. Indeed, it looked something like a pad lock, so Washu was somewhat familiar with how it probably worked, but a large spherical object that didnt seem to serve any purpose were attached on the side away from the ship of each padlock.

"I don't know..." He studied it for a second. "Computer, what are those?"

"Scanning..." it replied. "Padlock design has been altered. Unknown creation, Class 6 holding padlocks seem to make up the basic design, while Spirit Spheres have been attached. Analysis shows that the spirit spheres, along with the central command codes, are keeping padlocks shut."

"It's a whole new design of lock..." Zack said in wonder. "I've never seen something like that. It's like a security lock on the security locks."

"What's it mean in simpler terms." Ryoko said.

"It means that even if I were to hack the main computer, which I cant," Washu began, understanding the situation. "That those 'spirit spheres', or whatever they are, would still power the locks and keep them shut."

"The spheres are just like the syphon cylinder, only simpler. They can attract energy, suck it in, and other things from the environment or through direct feed." Zack explained further. "It's like the locks on the doors around here. Same idea. They do simple tasks and functions, and for those, its to keep the padlocks on, even if hacked."

"A security lock on the locks..." Kiyone said, parroting earlier words. "So what does that leave us to do?"

"I don't know. I mean they are absorbing dark ether from somewhere, as well as a computer signal." Zack said. "The dark ether is probably coming from a Syphon Cylinder..."

"Which is protecting the computer," Washu added. "So we'd have to take out the cylinder to get to the computer. Its like killing two birds with one stone."

"Yeah," Zack agreed. "But on larger ships, the syphon filter is a central structure located near the main deck or under the bridge itself. It's bound to be well protected."

"We've got no other choice, though." Ayeka said.

"Only way out of this jam is to do that it seems," Tenchi said, "And now that we can use our weapons again, it should be easier."

"Don't count on the weapon's to heavily, but since its our best course of action, we might as well go." Zack said. "Someone is going to have to stay here, then."

"Ill stay," Kiyone said, trying to get back up, but couldn't. She was still weak. "Urg, It's obvious I cant come along anyways."

"Alright. Mihoshi, you stay here and look after Kiyone and the ship." Zack said.

"Sasami, you stay here too," Ayeka also said. "It may be dangerous."

Washu nodded in agreement then turned to Kiyone. "Kiyone, you think you could pilot this ship?"

"Huh?" came a sound from both the police officer and dracadian.

"I've got the suspicion that if we knock out both the power and computer, there's probably a back up system that will kick in soon afterwards." Washu explained. "So it'd be good if you could pilot the ship out of the hanger into space before it comes online."

"How will you get back then?" Kiyone asked.

"We can use Ryo-Ohki to make our escape, once we know the layout of the ship." came the answer.

Kiyone pondered a moment then looked unsure. "Maybe...I don't know... I've never flown warships before, really."

"Help her to the helm," Zack asked Mihoshi as he tried to help her up. They helped her over to the helm, where she could pilot the ship. She sat in the chair and got herself comfortable. Zack typed in some commands into the holographic consoles. Dracadian messaging came up, and he continued. After a moment he turned to Kiyone. "Alright, The ship's syphon cylinder behind you is shut down. It caused a circuit change, so you will have 50 propulsion and limited weapon systems at most. Jumping is a no go as well. The computer will obey your commands, and a basic computerized tutorial can be run if you give the command to do so. Just have the computer help translate."

Kiyone gave a nod of understanding.

"Alright, then lets go" Zack said with serious enthusiasm. Be he staggered after a moment and panted for a second, then sat down to catch his breath.

"I think were getting ahead of ourselves.." Tenchi said, noticing how tired he was. They had just spent nearly the last 4 hours running about the ship for their lives, wit's at their end.

" A rest would be nice." Ayeka said sitting down.

"Uhh.. Or some sleep." Ryoko said in agreement. She yawned.

"Mm Im hungry, too..." Mihoshi said.

"Heh, were in danger because whoever is upstairs will know that I've shut down our syphon soon enough, and we're all out of strength." Zack said, laughing slightly.

"And were not exactly dressed all that appropriately either..." Washu added, noting that she was still wearing her night gown, as everyone else was still in their night clothing as well. "I can take care of the fatigue though, but lets get in better dress, hm?"

"Let's meet back here in 10 minutes, then.." Zack said. He groaned as he got back to his feet and opened the door to the bridge and stepped out. The others did likewise. About 10 or so minutes later, everyone was back on the bridge. Ayeka, Washu, Tenchi, Ryoko, and Zack were wearing battle armor, as they would be the 5 who would go out into the unknown. Ryo-Ohki was with them, as well, in her cabbit form. Washu summoned up her holo computer and typed some things in. After a moment, she closed it. Little orbs of light began to appear and after a moment, small reddish orange drinks in glass flasks appeared.

"Voila! Washu's Special Energy Formula!" Washu said showing the others. "Guarenteed to wake you up and give you the energy to run a marathon without breaking a sweat."

Washu handed one out to everyone. Tenchi eyed it suspiciously. Ayeka gave it a sniff and made a face of disgust. Ryoko stared deeply at the liquid through the glass, as if seeing if it was poisoned.

"...What's the drawbacks?" Ryoko asked, not to trusting.

"Drawbacks? What drawbacks?" Washu said, trying to act sincere. "There's no drawbacks...(though you will be dead as a door nail after 24 hours with a headache, but nothing I cant fix anyways..)

"What was that?" Ryoko said, hearing Washu mutter something under her breath after her last statement.

"Nothing" Washu said. "Now drink up! We've got a busy day ahead of us."

Ryoko frowned and grumbled. "It's still night time..." She then consumed the liquid. Her face seemed to turn to stone in disgust. A general feeling was apparent on everyone else's faces. Save Washu, that is. She drank it all down in one gulp.

"Ahh! Refreshing." Washu said wiping her mouth. "What's the matter with the rest of you?"

Ryoko began to spit some of it out, Zack tried wiping off his tongue on his sleeve.

"Ith tasths awthul!" Tenchi said, grimacing at the repulsive taste in his mouth.

"Oh, come on!" Washu said taking Ryoko's flask out of her hand and sipping it. "It's not that bad!...EW"

Washu spat some out. She looked at it curiously, summoned up her holo computer and ran a test. She frowned. "A computer glitch? How odd. It didn't mix in the flavoring, no wonder..."

The other flasks disappeared out of everyone's hands. She typed again, and dispersed her holo laptop. After a moment, new flasks appeared. "Try these then."

Everyone warily took a sip after eyeing the liquid. A look of 'Hey, not bad' came on the faces of most people. They drank it down. Ryoko handed her flask back to Washu a bit forcefully.

"Much better," she said sarcastically.

"Watch your manners," Washu warned. "Wouldn't want you to end up a Kappa, now would you?"

Everyone gave it a moment to sink it, and soon enough they were feeling full of energy again. "Alright, lets go. Computer, Arm self defence mechanisms. No one comes aboard without me."

"Understood." the soft spoken computer replied. They proceeded out the bridge. Passing some corridors and other long passageways, they finally stopped in front of a heavy plated door way. 3 orbs arranged in a triangular pattern, with 4 smaller ones at each corner of the door, glowed a soft red. Zack took a breath.

"Here we go." Zack replied, bracing himself for the unknown. He waved his hand across the orb formation in the center of the heavy door. The crystals flashed 5 times and then dimmed. A mechanical sound behind the door began to emerge, as the clanking of gears and other machines began to turn. A siren sounded as a red lot turned on above the door. Steam hissed from the seams as it slowly seemed to sink away from Zack and the others. A clanking noise halted the door movement, and it slid away into the right wall after a moment. Before them stood the darkness.

Ryoko leaned forward from the door way and looked out. The hanger was dark, and an black haze seemed to drift through the air. She looked down at the side of the ship and then to the other side. There were no platforms or docking rails that would allow them to easily leave the ship.

"How do we get down?" Ryoko questioned. Zack pulled out a small coin of some kind and flipped it off his thumb into space. It gently twirled out and gracefully fell into the darkness below them. Zack listened intently. After a long silence, a twang could be heard, as the coin hit the floor below. Zack then hoisted himself on the small ledging of the hatch door way and put his hands on both sides of the door way, readying himself to disembark. He took a gulp and jumped.

"Zack!" Tenchi said, grabbing after him but tripped and fell out too. "AHHhhhh...huh?"

Tenchi was gently falling, along with Zack. He tried to turn himself to face the ship door way. It shrank away from him, now noticing Washu, Ryoko, and even Ayeka (although with a face of fear) jump from the ship door way. He gently touched a hard surface and bounced off slightly. He flailed about, disorientated to get back down. After a moment, Zack came and helped him down from the air.

"The gravity in this dock, like most Dracadian docks, is lower gravity, so there isn't much need for platforms to take us from the ships." Zack informed the others. He touched a small jewel on his arm guard, and the hatch the ship above them sounded with metal machines working their business in closing the hatch behind them. "Alright, lets go. Washu, Im sure you probably know where the exit points are, right?"

"Yeah, I downloaded them right before we left." Washu said. She opened her palm upward, and a small holographic diagram of the dock appeared. In a corner, a small green blip appeared, while red blips appeared on the other sides of the dock walls. "We're right here, this green blip. It's a small hike, but our closest one should be that way."

She pointed into the darkness. They nodded and headed off. After a few minutes, and a climb up a ladder and across a few platforms, they reached a door. Zack stared at it funny for only a brief moment, before it split in two, allowing them to proceed. He blinked a moment, and shook his head to clear it of his thoughts.

The corridors were somewhat spacious, but very strange as well. They were metallic black in color with small intricate designs in various luminescent colors on the dark wall panels. Small veins of light ran up vertically every so often, to separate a wall panel from the next. The haze had become a dark tint of royal purple, and seemed to cling to the floor thinly. It dissipated where the floor met the walls, because a vein of water or some bright glowing liquid ran, which also seemed to provide light for the hall ways. Although barely visible, tubing and machine parts mixed in with plant life covered the ceiling.

"Washu, do you know where we're going?" Ayeka asked after a few more minutes of walking down this and that corridor.

"No, not really..." Washu said. "I've got a faint idea of where to go, strangely, because this seems familiar, but for the most part, I've been trying to take routes that follow energy signatures that will probably lead us up to its source."

Ryoko gave a humph sound. "I think we should just split up. Cover more ground."

"It's to dangerous to do that, Ryoko." Tenchi said.

"Oh Tenchi, thinking about my safety," Ryoko cooed. She got close to him, but Ayeka abruptly seperated the two.

"He's thinking of ALL our safety, Ayeka," she said, annoyance and anger hinting in her voice. "Besides, you're a tough girl, why would Tenchi need to take care of you?"

Ryoko picked up on the indirect insult. "Better then you, who's to weak to defend herself!"

A fight was beginning to build up between the two rivals, when Zack cut stopped and stared at the wall panel for a second. Ryoko and Ayeka noticing Tenchi and Washu stopping turned their attention from one another to Zack.

"This place, this ship, feels familiar to me too. Maybe not layout, but the look." Zack said. "This doesn't feel right, to me."

He touched the wall and ran his hand across it. The intricate designs on the wall glowed red, and the wall flashed white and disappeared. Zack drew back astonished. Another hallway before him, leading to another dark area of where ever they were. A crack of light shined from his left, and the path behind him was now blocked by the same wall.

"Amazing. It shifted in and out of our dimension!" Washu said looking at it. She touched the wall, and the wall designs glowed white and the wall once again in a crack of bright light disappeared and reappeared where it had been before. "But how to tell which walls do anything."

" There." Tenchi pointed to a small crystal that was mounted near the top of the wall, nearly covered up by the ceilings leaves and machines. The crystal was a neutral gray, and did not appear on any other wall when they turned around. The designs also were slightly different on the walls.

"There's got to be more to it, then just that," Ryoko said, not as astonished with the wall trick as the others were. "I mean, what about a simple sign saying this was a door?"

"Hm I wonder." Zack said. He lit a small flame in his palm and pressed it against the wall. The designs glowed red again and the wall began to glow white, and he then let out a sigh of disappointment, expecting the wall to faze out again. He took his hand away from the wall, and the wall returned back to normal status. He looked up the wall again. It shimmered. He stared intently and after a few seconds, runic symbols appeared on the wall. He opened his eyes wide in amazement and grinned broadly at his discovery.

"What is it?" Tenchi questioned.

"It's Dracadian," Ayeka recognizing it. "I've seen it before, when I was younger. I don't know what it says though."

The symbols faded away and the wall was once again its regular self. "It's a sign. Basically, that leads to refinery and causeway sections. Let's go. There may be other doorways like this one farther down."

Zack called upon his fire blade and then ran down the hallway, holding it so that the tipped touched the wall. Walls every so often would light up, and reveal a new message, but not the one he was looking for. After a long run he finally came to a dead end. He held up his sword to the wall. Its designs glowed red, wall glowed white and then the text appeared.

"Syphon Systems and Bridge Elevator." Zack said, reading it aloud. Alright Finally. Zack held his hand to the wall. Nothing happened. He took it off and reapplied it. Still nothing. "Huh? Why isn't it working?"

He stepped back and looked at the wall. After a moment, a hissing sound became apparent and they noticed two close orbs now slowly materializing on the wall in front of them. One had a shimmer of black light, while the other was neutral gray. He tried his hand on the black glowing orb, but pulled his hand away fast with a yelp. He rubbed it.

"Ah that hurt..." Zack said. "How bout this one?"

He touched the null gray orb, but nothing happened. It remained inanimate. Zack gave a displeased look. "Alright, the black one is for a shadow user to use, but I don't know about the grey one."

"Let me try." Washu said walking up to the orbs. She placed her hand on the grey orb. No response. "It look's like were at a dead end."

"How can that be, this is the door," Zack said frustrated. He turned around and leaned up against the wall for a second. Ayeka bent down and looked closely at the orb, and tapped it with her finger. A faint glow of rainbow colors swirling around in the depths of the orb began to appear.

"Huh?" Zack said noticing the light. The wall glowed white behind him and disappeared. He fell backwards onto the ground. He got up off the ground, rubbing his head and looking back where they came from. The wall had moved behind them. Washu was looking past Zack along with Tenchi and the others. He got up and turned around. An elevator platform sat before them, that seemed it would rise up a slightly angled wall.

"Well, lets go." Washu said stepping on the platform. They all followed after her, stepping onto the platform. The purplish haze swirled away from the elevator and it climbed the wall into the darkness. It seemed to gain speed, as they could feel the rush of chilling air past them. It rumbled, still picking up speed.

"This thing going a little to fast?" Zack yelled, trying to raise his voice above the quickly deafening wind.

"Just a little bit!" Tenchi yelled back to him. The platform rumbled and small lights on the wall the platform traveled up on raced by. Swishing noises screamed by as they passed small ledges every so often. Ayeka gave a scream of terror and clung close to Tenchi. Ryoko held onto Ryo-Ohki, who herself looked bewildered as to what the others were doing.

"This must be another Hallucination! Another nightmare!" Ryoko yelled out, assessing the situation and feeling something wrong with the whole situation itself. "Just like on the ship!"

A loud crack of thunder and they were surrounded by white light. The platform seemed to be flying now, rumbling violently. They could still feel the chilling wind and hear the swishing as it screamed by. The force of the wind was now beginning to crush them against the floor.

"Err AHHHH" Zack yelled against the wind. Another bright flash and there was darkness. 


	17. CH 17 No Need For Nightmares Part II

Ah, yknow I didnt really expect this section to be so long. It seemed to go by much faster in my head then when Im typing it here. Unfortunately, were half way through this ship Act. :( I said that there should be something lighter on 17, and that Juraii will be 18. Well it appears that I will have to push it up a chapter. This wont take longer then this next chapter to finish. It's just it seems to be pushing near 15 pages for that last chapter, and a break in the pages is needed, I feel. Otherwise, it doesnt feel gravy! But atleast Im getting you all chapters. Though this chapter, and last may not seem all that important, there is importance to it. The chapters kinda lead up to the next. For the most part. Chapter 13 and 14 lead up to 15s with the loss of the Yagami, making the Zenith the only ship left. The battle royal stuff lead up to questions as to what is happening and so on. Well these two chapters are leading up to the stuff on Jurai. But, to get hte mood away from this grim crappy stuff, Im going to insert a happier chapter to revitalize our heros for the oncoming battle. So they are atleast not as traumatized as they once were. Anyways, part two. :(

CH 17 - No need for Nightmares (Part II)

Ayeka's eyes fluttered a moment. A light seemed to shine softly from above her bed. Her bed...She sat upright in a flash. Sasami was standing next to her. She smiled warmly.

"Ah, your finally awake, Ayeka!" She said. "Are you feeling better now? You seemed to be having some kind of nightmare. Sounded awful to me."

"Huh..wha.. A nightmare?" Ayeka rubbed her face. What was she dreaming about. Something horrible, but she couldn't remember what.

"Ayeka?" Sasami said, noticing that Ayeka's eyes seemed to be looking faraway, searching for something.

"Huh..oh, yeah... a nightmare." Ayeka said, realizing she was spacing out. "Yes, thank you, Sasami. I feel better."

"That's good to hear!" Sasami said, happily. "I've decided to make breakfast this morning, so hurry up, all right?"

Ayeka nodded, and with that, Sasami left. Ayeka sat there for a moment in her bed. (A nightmare...) She thought. She shook the thought out of her mind and got out of her bed and opened her well adorned wardrobe and proceeded to get dressed. A picture of Tenchi was pinned to the inside of the Wardrobe itself. She smiled at it warmly, happily, but for a reason beyond her, her heart felt empty and cold all of a sudden. She dismissed it quickly and closed the wardrobe door and proceeded out.

The dining room on board the Ryo-Oh was a fairly ornate. Ayeka sat herself at the long end of a white table. Water trickled gently around her from small waterfalls and little rivers, as miniature gardens covered the walls and surrounding corners. Sasami had prepared a wonderful breakfast, and Ayeka enjoyed it. She finished eating and helped her little sister clean up the dishes. After a few minutes of chores, she went up the bridge.  
"Where are we heading?" Ayeka asked, now curious where her ship was going and why she wasn't on Earth.

"Our current course is set for Jurai, my Empress." the computer responded.

(Empress?) Ayeka thought, not sure if it was an error or not. But she did not bother to correct the computer, after all, it was a meaningless error and she would eventually be queen anyways. "Why are we heading for Jurai."

"For your marriage." The computer played back, curious if Ayeka was alright or not. She looked shocked at the response. "Marriage? Marriage to whom? Lord Tenchi?"

"No, my queen, you are to be married to Lord Kazula." the computer responded. "Queen, are you feeling alright?"

"No, Im not feeling alright!" Ayeka yelled. Sasami came to the bridge.

"Shall I get you medical attention?" the computer questioned.

"Why am I not marrying Lord Tenchi!" Ayeka said, not answering the previous question.

"You have been proposed to by Lord Kazula and you accepted." the computer responded. "Your father agreed to the arrangements, before passing away.

"Passing away...?" Ayeka repeated. "Father was in an accident, but he should be getting well soon!"

"Negative, my Empress. Emperor and Empress of Jurai were killed in a ship accident above Jurai 4 months ago," the computer repeated. "Do you not remember?"

"..No..I don't..." Ayeka said, still shocked about such news. "But that'd make Lord Tenchi the heir."

"Lord Tenchi gave up his rights to the throne," the computer responded.

"What? Why? When?" Ayeka questioned, a bit hysterical now.

"When Lord Tenchi married Lady Ryoko 5 months ago, he gave up his position to the throne." the computer responded.

"...he...chose...Ryoko...?" She was wide eyed and tears rolled down her cheeks. She fell to her knees. "...he..."

Sasami rushed over to her, and hugged her, as she began to sob. "There, there Ayeka."

Ayeka looked up, tears still in her eyes, and said determined. "Y-you lie! Tenchi would never choose her!"

"I am a computer, my empress. I cannot lie. But if you do not believe me, you can review my recordings, and even ask your sister yourself, if you wish." the computer responded.

"..Sasami, it's lying, right? The computer is lying, right?" Ayeka sobbed. Sasami's eyes were dark and sad.

"When Tenchi announced that he would marry Ryoko, you had a fight with him." Sasami began. "It eventually lead up to him saying that if you could not accept his choice, then you should leave. And you did. That was about 7 months ago."

"No, no, no, no..."Ayeka said, beginning to rock herself back wards and foward. Tears splashed on the floor of the bridge. "No, your lying...he would never...would he?"

"He did. I left too, because I couldn't just let you be by yourself." Sasami said, hugging her older sister again in comfort. It didnt bring any, as Ayeka pushed her off and backed away.

"No...no...no..." Ayeka rambled on through sobs and tears. "..Y-your lying too, Your LYING!"

"Sister, why would I lie to you?" Sasami said standing up now. She seemed tall and ominous. "Im not lying to you, just believe me."

She held out her hand to the empress, but Ayeka stared at her in horror. "YOUR LYING!"

Wind...

Flash of light...

"...nightmare..." said a familiar voice.

Ayeka saw an elevator. She saw Sasami still standing in front of her on the Ryo-Oh, holding out her hand. Her eyes, they were dark, almost black. Something cruel and sinister lay behind them.

"NO! YOU LIE!" Ayeka said standing up and hitting the hand away from her.

"Damn you, you little WHORE!" Sasami said turning back to her with anger. She charged Ayeka, her voice now twisted.

"Your not REAL!" Ayeka screamed closing her eyes tightly. The earth rumbled about her and everything went silent. She opened her eyes slowly. She was on the floor in an empty corridor. She looked about herself and got up slowly. She could see a light at one end of the corridor and walked to it.

She ended up in a small room, with a half dome shaped side, which was transluscent. The sea of stars could be seen. A high rising structure could be seen if one were to look up, black in shadow, only visible as a gap in the stars and a few stray lights. Ayeka noticed a figure sitting on the floor against the wall as she entered the room. Red eyes glowed softly into the depths of space.

"...Did you have a nightmare too?" Ayeka asked Zack. He didn't reply. She could see that he was somewhere else mentally, pent up rage and hate in his eyes, as well as fear and sadness. A sound came from the hallway behind Ayeka. She turned to see Ryoko carrying Tenchi. He looked fatigued and worn, but Ryoko seemed much worse, almost as if the ageless pirate had turned old in one go. Ayeka rubbed her eyes, and saw it was only her imagination, but indeed Ryoko looked like she was worn thin. Ayeka went to help Ryoko and they helped Tenchi sit down. He was panting.

"I hate this place.." Ryoko said quietly. She glared at Zack, who didn't seem to register their presence. But he did and stood up. He looked over to the others, now with a deeper loneliness in his eyes then anything.

"I do too.." Zack whispered. He seemed to shake off whatever was eating away at him, and looked down the hall and then turned back to the others. "Where's Washu?"

A door slammed shut, sealing them off from the hallway which they came and the half dome seemed to rise up the towering dark structure. The quiet noise of machinery moving underneath them as they scaled the structure softly hummed. They became wary again as the elevator pulled to a soft stop and a door opened up again into a large a narrow hallway. Zack called forth his saber of flames, while Ryoko summoned her own. Tenchi drew his master key and charged it, and Ayeka gathered some energy in her hands. Half way down the hall, light came from a door being opened, revealing the faint traces of the purple haze and the black steel walls. They proceeded with caution, startled a bit when the elevator door slammed shut behind them, and continued until reaching the opened door. They paused a brief moment. The room in them was simple enough. Much like a somewhat large dome, with water running in circles around the room in intricate little canals. They emitted a soft blue glow that seemed to pierce through the dark haze that crawled about the ground. In the center, on an elevated circular platform, sat a large chair. A man sitting in the chair could be seen.

He was tall, broad, and somewhat old. His hair slicked back, he had a thick bushy mustache that was well combed. His eyes were a pale grey, and seemed to have some what aged and worn features on his face. He wore a monocle and smoked a pipe calmly. His sit was a pure white, with red vest and tie underneath it. He wore gloves and his shoes were shined obsidian. Holding his pipe in one hand, he stood up.

"Ah, welcome my guests. I take it you did not have to much trouble coming to this place?" the man said, jovially. As if he was a good friend of theirs, and they were his guests of honor. Zack glared at him with a extreme sense of hate. "Welcome to my humble palace, the Angel Executioner! But I must say, where is that last fellow of yours? The young violet haired lady?"

"You tell me," Zack said from across the room, not dropping his guard.

"Ah, now now, no need to sound bitter. You've finally arrived, so all is well!" the man said delighted.

"Cut the crap! Where's our friend and why are you holding our ship?" Ryoko yelled.

"My dearest Ryoko, there's no need for to shout and be angry!" The man said, still acting pleased that they came. He smiled a warmly, but his eyes did not.

"H-how do you know my name?" Ryoko asked stunned.

"The party's just started!" the old man continued. " Please enjoy yourselves first! Sing, eat, dance! Have your fill of fun! Then questions and talk!...I insist."

His smile turned wicked and he seemed to fade away into smoke.

"You bastard, come back here!" Ryoko yelled and charged forward towards the 'throne'.

"Ryoko, wait!" Tenchi called out, but was cut off. Ryoko stopped dead in her tracks as a violent crash from right where the throne was rumbled through out the room, kicking up the haze. They shielded their eyes from the blast of haze and debris, and then looked towards where the crash had originated. A strange spherical like object had apparently dropped from the ceiling. It looked steel, but was pitch black in color and didn't seem to have any seems. "What's that?"

The sphere began to turn and twist. Mechanical arms erupted from its body. Eight of them, as a new sphere emerged from one side. Small ocular devices covered the top portion of the new sphere, and pincer's appeared as well from nowhere. A hole opened up, like a hatch, a deep hole into the beast, which rings of razors began to spin in all sorts of directions. Small under arms sprouted as well. The ends of the arms turned into needle points, and the beast rose above the others.

"Oh no.." Ryoko said, looking up at the ferocious mechanical arachnid. It charged and she dove out of the way from the thing. Zack immediately charged with Tenchi, while Ayeka stood farther back and started firing off charged shots of energy. Zack and Tenchi split up as the creature swiped at both of them with deadly accuracy. Tenchi used his mastery key to block the attack, and then pushed off and took a heavy slash at the leg. It cut clean through, and backed off quickly. He noted Zack had something similar and had a look of accomplishment on his face. Ryoko came up from behind and charged through mechanical monstrosity while flying her fastest. A hail of energy came from above from Ayeka, as she finished off the machine. It spasmed and fumbled as it could not gain balance from its front legs. The behind attack and volley of energy seemed to finish it off. It hemorrhaged and collapsed.

"Easy enough," Ryoko said landing gracefully on top of the ruined machine. She gave it a kick and smiled broadly in victory. "Now where is that old timer."

She started to look about when all of a sudden, the ground she was standing on became unstable. It rolled and tossed violently. A dark light began to emit from the places which the group had dealt damage to. The spider came back to life slowly, pushing itself off the ground, regrowing lost parts and closing open wounds. Ryoko backflipped off the vile machine.

"No way! I guess Ill just have to put it down again!" Ryoko said as she drew her energy blade once more and charged it. "Eat this!"

She came, brandishing her blade, but was stopped. An arm had blocked the attack. The spider was no longer a pure black, but grey seemed to dot its surface now in what appeared to be some form of armor.

"Uh oh...AH" screamed Ryoko as another arm swatted her to the ground. Pinned down by the leg, the machine attempted to impale her on one of its legs. She wriggled left and right, barely missing the needle like leg. The other's took action. Ayeka charged the spider from the side, knocking it off balance, allowing Ryoko to escape, while Tenchi and Zack tried to pull off their previous attack again. It did not work though, as with Ryoko, the spider blocked their attacks and sent them flying with a swat of its powerful arms. An arm rose up as Ayeka came back for another strike. A small glow of black energy began to build, but Ayeka quickly turned to brake off the attack. The monster fired a beam of black energy from that claw, searing past Ayeka. She fell, as she was only quick enough to evade the direct it. She rubbed her leg where it stung, and got up to move again. The spider quickly charged and rammed her against a wall, ignoring the fruitless attacks of the others. Pinned between the wall and the spider, Ayeka gritted her teeth in pain and tried to push off the spider with all her might. Ryoko returned the earlier favor that Ayeka had done for her by pulling out forcefully one of the legs of the spider, causing it to fall again. In the brief moment she was freed, Ayeka quickly moved to safety, but the mechanical spider quickly rolled itself upright. The other's stood facing it as a pack.

"It's no use!" Tenchi said, now becoming tired from the attacking and evading. " I cant even scratch it now."

"There's a way to hurt it, there has to be!" Zack said in frustration.

"There is," Ryoko said confidently. "It's got one fo those orb's on its bottom side. Saw it as I flipped it over!"

"Thats it then, we just have to break that and it's powerless, right?" Ayeka said, wiping the sweat from her brow.

"Geez, you two are psyched," Zack said, a bit taken back from the two girls. "But thats it alright. Break the orb and it wont have dark energies."

Ayeka and Ryoko started to spread out slowly. The spider scanned both of them, making small attempts at swiping at them. The other two in the room just slowly backed, drawing the spider into the center of the room. When it was near it, Ryoko and Ayeka took off as fast as they could, while Zack ran to the right of the beast. The spider swung at Zack, but he dodged out of the way. Ryoko and Ayeka came up from behind and charged full power past its legs, tripping up each one as it did. The bug slammed to the ground. Zack stuck his flame sword deep into the floor and emitted a red glow, followed shortly by an explosion that flipped over the bug. Tenchi sprang into action and quickly ran across the belly of the spider while it was stunned to the small orb on its back end. He lifted up his sword, and thrust down hard on the orb. The sword pierced and it cracked. Tenchi wiggled the light saber, causing the cracked orb to shatter. A loud violent squeal rang out and the spider slowly curled up and disintegrated.

Clap,Clap,Clap.

"Bravo, Bravo!" came an unwelcomed voice. "Good Show. Jolly good show, old fellows."

Ryoko gritted her teeth and spun around to face the old man. Ayeka and Zack glared at their vile host, and Tenchi was holding back some of his rage.

"We've had enough of your fun and games! Now where is Washu?" Tenchi said seriously.

"I havent got the faintest clue as to what your talking about." came the old man.

"Im going to ask you one more time. Where's Washu?" Tenchi warned.

"Hmm, how bout this, old sport," the old man said putting his pipe to his mouth and taking a puff. "How about I just kill you, and that will be that. Quite good, it's a smashing plan actually. I think thats what Ill do!"

With speed faster then that of Ryoko's, the old man charged Tenchi. He evaded the lightning fast swings that barely missed Tenchi. Zack and Ryoko ran forward to assist while Ayeka charged another energy ball. But neither of them could come to Tenchi's aide. A force field of some kind had been thrown up around the two, preventing Zack and the others from helping. Ryoko banged on the force field with might. It rippled like water but did not buckle.

"Not bad, old chap, not bad at all" the man said through his swings. "But you've got to be prepared for everything...like this!"

Tenchi evaded another swing but fell as the old man kicked out his feet from under him. He hit the ground hard and rolled instinctively as a fist smashed the ground next to him. The man shook his fist to ease the pain and then resumed his attack. He began to push Tenchi towards the edge of the barrier. He once again stumbled and fell, once again rolling instinctively as another fist rocketed for him. His garbs touched slightly with the edge of the field, but fell to cinder as they did.

"Ah, better not get to close to that, or you'll be burned." said the old man again. He charged Tenchi fiercely. He was beginning to get hit occasionally by swings, that sent him flying, but would quickly recover.

"Damn!" Zack said in frustration, unable to help his friend.

"If Tenchi does not finish him off quick, he will tire and be done for." Ryoko said, noticing Tenchi was slowing down.

"Tenchi! Don't give up!" Ayeka called out to him.

Tenchi gave a brief smile of acknowledgment and ducked and wove around the old man. He took a hit, fell and got back up. He held off his attacks.

"Whats that matter, old chap? Afraid to hit an elderly man?" taunted the man as he continued to swing and kick violently. Tenchi watched and waited. The man took a hard right swing. Tenchi moved. He blocked the attack, and while still open, thrust forward and out with his master key. The man stumbled. "She's up ahead...Jolly good show, m'boy"

He fell over dead, and he disintegrated like the spider. The force field faded away and Ayeka and Ryoko ran to join Tenchi. He was tired but smiled warmly for them.

"Nice fighting there, Tenchi." Zack said to him. "Where's Washu at though."

"I don't know." Tenchi said now, getting to his feet. "But he said she was uphead."

"Whats that supposed to mean?" Ryoko said, not happy with such an answer. But within a moment she was levitating, but not under her own power. "What in the world?"

The others were also levitating, and began to slowly rise to the ceiling. A white light engulfed them. Another light, blinding them, followed. When they opened their eyes, they were in a large room. It was the bridge.

The room was large and cylindrical. The control consoles and most other aspects were amethyst in color. Canals of the blue luminescent water ran through the floors and up thorugh the levels of rows, seats and consoles. Wood made up the floor, instead of steel and plants and overhanging brush covered the ceiling and some of the side walls. A flight of stairs lead to the top most level, where a command chair, much the same one Zack's ship had, resided. Behind it, a large obsidian circular tower that seemed to go straight into the ceiling sat, a rainbow of colors glowing upon it.

"This is...This is a bridge of a Juraian ship." Ayeka said, recognizing the set up.

"What do you mean?" Zack said looking to her. "This ship is Dracadian, though Im not familiar with any of its design."

"The ship is designed like a large Juraian battle ship, and this is the bridge of such a ship. Except, there'd be a sentient tree where that column stands." Ayeka said, having a bad sinking feeling about the place.

"That's the Syphon Cylinder, but its huge." Zack said recognizing the obsidian tower. "No way this could be a Jurian ship..."

Ayeka walked over to a console. She touched it and the screen lit up. She began to type things and after a moment a large screen appeared in front of the bridge. Juraian lettering followed by Dracadian lettering began to display its self.

"What in the hell?" Zack said in disbelief.

"What is that?" Tenchi asked, unable to read Juraian or Dracadian.

"It's the ship's designation information..." Ayeka said.

"But it's strange, a lot of the required information and a lot of unknown stuff is listed." Zack added.

"Who cares! Lets just find Washu and get out of here." Ryoko said running up the steps. "But first, let's get rid of this thing."

Zack still stared in disbelief. The ship, now that he truely thought about it, was similar to a Dracadian design, but not close enough to be Dracadian. A zapping noise erupted behind him and he turned around to see Ryoko fallen backwards and rubbing her head, as the black lightning trailed up the tower. His eyes opened wide with a sense of dread. "Oh no... Its in USE!"

"Look out!" Tenchi yelled as he pushed Ayeka out of the way from an attacked. The console in which she had been using shot sparks as a dagger stuck out of it.

"Hehehe..." hissed a laughing voice. Ayeka and Tenchi slowly rose from where they were rising. Ryoko and Zack were already facing the direction the laughing came from. "I must say, Im a bit impressed that you managed to bust up that spider and even beat my doppleganger... Though I wouldn't call him much of one."

"Who's there!" Zack called out. A smile and a pair of eyes appeared in the shadows.

"I am Silth, captain of the Angel Executioner." the smile replied.

"Why not come into the light where I can see you?" Ryoko said sinisterly. "I want to see the face that such a lovely smile belongs to..."

"Oh, dearest Ryoko, you would enjoy that, wouldn't you?" the smile taunted. "Maybe I shall, but y'see, shadow's are where I belong."

A bolt of fire erupted on a wall, illuminating it. There was nothing there and Zack clenched his fist in anger.

"Be patient, Emissary, patient!" the voice said, now from a different place.

"Keep on your toes, it's a shadow dracadian..." Zack said in disgust and fury.

"A what?"

"A dracadian that has learned to live in the shadows, sweetest Ayeka," the voice taunted. She shivered when it said her name. "You are stronger then my weakest doppleganger, but are stronger then yourselves heheheeeee..."

The eyes and smile disappeared. Ryoko scanned the room suspiciously. The shadows flickered in the dark cold light. The pirate summoned her beam saber and gripped it tightly. Zack, Tenchi, and Ayeka armed themselves the same.

Swift movement caught Ryoko's eyes and she rolled out of the way. The other's turned towards her to see another one like her, only it was black, with no color or features. It was a shadow.

"Ayeka! Tenchi! Behind you!" Zack called out, as two more shadows sprung beneath them and attacked. They guarded the attacks. A fourth shadow crept up behind Zack, but he was expecting it. He rolled away from it as it swung at him.

"Damn, our own shadows being used against us!" Ryoko said, as she continued to fight with her double.

"Remember, copies are always weaker then the originals," Zack yelled aloud to everyone for encouragement. They battled fiercely with their dark selves. The shadows could easily parry their attacks, making them difficult targets. Ryoko was becoming frustrated as well as tired that her dopple ganger would pull cheap shots and hits, and had the same quickness and abilities as her.

The others also were beginning to grow tired of their fighting. Zack was backed into a corner as his own dopple ganger lunged forward at him. He blocked and countered attack with a fatal slash. The shadow him disappeared into air. Ryoko soon dispatched her own, and both of them ran to aid Ayeka and Tenchi, who were having difficulties with theirs, since the dopple gangers could use logs and the master key themselves.

Tenchi countered the attack from his own and dispersed his shadow before Ryoko or Zack could arrive, and swung around, nailing Ayeka's shadow from behind. It to fell and dissolved. Tenchi panted in relief.

"This is getting ridiculous. Every damned owner of this ship is a coward." Zack said, propping himself up with his arm.

"No kidding..." Tenchi agreed.

"Come out and play, now why don't ya, Silth!" Ryoko called out into the darkness. There came no response. They waited a moment. Ryoko finally lost her patience. "Fine, lets just waste this place."

The others got up as she flew up to the Syphon Cylinder.

"Ryoko wait!" Zack called out, but she swung and her sword came crashing down on the Cylinder. She cut it deep, and bolts of black spewed from the wound. The ship rocked violently. Alert signals started to appear all over the bridge.

"Time to finish it off!" Ryoko said preparing for another swing. But the bridge rocked heavily. The command chair then moved foward, as the floor opened up from below. The cylinder quickly rose from the ground, tubes and wires hanging loosely from its base as it climbed into the ceiling.

"What's going on..." Zack said in disbelief. The bridge rocked heavily again. Bubbles of energy surrounded everyone and they found themselves in the blink of an eye in a large clear dome. They could then see the ship and its horrible magnificence. The ship must have easily been larger then anything around. It looked like it went on forever, with Turrets, silos, launch bays and other parts stretching on and on it its black and amethyst splendor. Veins of light and energy sprawled across its surface.

"This would destroy us all..." Zack muttered. A gasp of horror caused him to turn around. In the center of this very large dome room sat a huge tree. The syphon cylinder had split up into 6 smaller segments and was situated all around the tree. Dark energies flowed to and from the tree. The leaves of the tree seemed to be twisted and sharp, darker in color.

"I-I-It's a sentient tree..." Ayeka gasped, shocked at what she was looking at. "But its been deformed."

"The syphon...its gathering energy from it..." Zack said.

"This warship, it isnt Jurai's or Dracadia's, is it." Ryoko questioned.

"This is the Angel Executioner. The first of its type, Ryoko." A young women with pail skin and shoulder length jet black hair stepped out from the shadows. Her eyes were dark and deep as space itself. She was athletic and young in build, probably as old as Zack or Tenchi, and her height was no more hten 5'7" at most. Her uniform was form fitting and simplistic, which was made up something of black shorts and a tight black tank top that shined in the low light a. A sash hung at her waist and a small design was woven over her heart on the black fabric. A small clip or brooch of a red feather was pinned slightly above the chest design, the only thing on her that seemed to be a color other then black. She had some kind of dark blade summoned in her right hand, and a gauntlet on her left. A pink jewel shimmered on it. "This magnificent warship, combined with the power of both Jurai and Dracadia, will give birth to a new era. The era which my master hopes to achieve. The era when we shall conquer everything, even god himself."

"You fool!" Zack seethed. "You will destroy both our people!"

"No, only those unworthy of our immaculate future shall be destroyed, Emissary." the young woman said. Her eyes showed cold.

"I'll see that this ship is destroyed, so it cannot be used for whatever vile purposes you or your master have in store for it!" Zack said, standing in a fighting stance.

"So will I!" Ayeka followed after, getting into a fighting stance.

"It's people like you that cause suffering!" Tenchi said, also taking a stand. "Your going to kill a lot of innocent people for your dream."

"That's right." Silth agreed. "It wont matter, for our dream will lead to true happiness. Perfection in ourselves, and in our universe. Unity! No more space strife!"

"Look, I usually wouldn't care, but after the hell you put me and my friends, through, and you have Washu, Im going to have to put you into a world of pain." Ryoko said, now drawing her own energy sword.

"Oh is it Washu you want? Is that all really? Then have her!" Silth yelled. She snapped her fingers and Washu appeared before then. She was being held up by a floating device with chains tied to her wrists. Her eyes were empty of life, but a tear gently rolled down her face. She snapped her fingers again and she fell from the device and it disappeared. Ryoko ran out and caught her before she hit the ground.

"W-Whatd you do to her?" Ryoko screamed, noticing Washu's eyes were empty of all feeling.

"Physically, I've done nothing." Silth smiled wildly. "The soul is a most powerful source of energy, y'know..."

"...You wreaped her, didn't you." Zack said, anger built up in his voice. "You used forbidden techniques of ether and you STOLE HER SOUL!"

Silth smiled even wider and held up her left hand and its gauntlet. The pink jewel in its center shimmered. "The power of one's soul is imaginable. I can feel it's energies coursing through me, giving me power beyond my wildest dreams! The average soul is strong, but hers...hers is almost overwhelming! I cannot even begin to tap its strongest energies, as her soul seems like an endless ocean. Just like her fears. Her memories..."

"..Zack...What's wrong with her exactly." Ayeka asked worried, not understanding this.

"She took her soul..." was all Zack could say.

"Oh no, I did more then just that. When you passed up that elevator, I set a trap. If your fears conquered you, you were weak enough to have your soul ripped away from you! The powers of dark ether can do such things. But those damned fools in the council feel that such power is never to be used!" Silth said with rage. "But you 4, you 4 are strong, unlike that pitiful women. Her fear of being lonely conquered her. She feared being all alone. That's why she researches constantly, isolates her self. She wants a taste of what she's afraid of, thinking it will protect her. That is why she made you Ryoko! To compensate for the loss of her once only child! To protect herself from her own loneliness! How pathetic!"

"...Im...going...to KILL YOU!" Ryoko said laying down Washu and with lightning fast speeds raced across the long empty platform to Silth. Rage filled Ryoko's eyes, but Silth just smiled even wider. She swung to kill, but hit nothing but empty air. "WHERE ARE YOU! SHOW YOURSELF! WHERE ARE YOU, YOU COWARD!"

"Right here, my dearest..." Came a voice from behind. Ryoko spun around to see Silth lunge at her with her shadow blade. She missed but quickly came back with a wide slash. Ryoko blocked with her own sword, but was launched back to where Tenchi and the others were. Ryoko struggled to get up after such a blow. Silth just laughed. "Hahaha. Pathetic. After merely 3 fights, your all worn out already? It does not matter, anyways, for with her soul, I am infinitely strong!"

She was right. It was obvious that for everyone there fighting her, she was powerful enough without the Washu's soul, and everyone's fatigue was making them run short. The ship rumbled from beneath. One of the 6 parts of the syphon cylinder behind Silth that had split up sparked blue energy, but the shadow dracadian did not notice it.

"With one lost loved one, I wonder how you will deal with the loss of another?" Silth taunted. The looked at her with dire questioning. Something swirled beneath Ayeka. The shadow dopple ganger rose up from behind and impaled her.

"Ah...ah..."Ayeka managed out as the hand which passed through her like a ghost, leaving no wound, seemed to cause her immense pain. Her eyes dimmed, and they too fell lifeless. The shadow swirled about her and disappeared.

"AYEKA!" Tenchi said running over to her and cradling her in his arms.

"They say keep your friends close, and your enemies closer, you know." Silth said quietly. Tenchi's eyes went wide with shock as he flew across the room and landed against the wall. He tensed up in pain. Ayeka slowly rose to her feet, her eyes dead of life."I could reap her soul, just as well, but then I cannot use her body against you, now can I?"

Ayeka sprinted off towards Tenchi with speeds of quick silver and back handed him when he was stunned from it. Tenchi fell to the floor. Ayeka bent down and got close to him.

"...hah...Tenchi, would you like a kiss?" She whispered into his ear seductively. Tenchi was stunned by her actions. She drew herself near him, her hands feeling his chest and body. Her lips close to his. He was stunned, locked in this state of strange fear. She broke away from him quickly as an energy ball crashed beside him from Ryoko. "Damn you Ryoko, always treacherous as ever. Ill make Tenchi mineee. Only mine."

Tenchi quickly got to his feet, as Ayeka rushed passed him and engaged Ryoko. The two fought hard, not holding back anything, even though Ayeka was being manipulated like a puppet by Silth. Tenchi drew his master key again and stumbled for a moment. He couldn't willingly attack Ayeka, and she seemed to be getting the upper hand with Ryoko.

"Go ahead! Attack her Tenchi, Save Ryoko. Who needs a bratty princess anyways?" Silth taunted.

"Shut it!" Tenchi said, still trying to figure out what to do.

"If you wont kill her, I will!" Silth yelled. A swirl of shadow appeared at Tenchi's feet, and his dopple ganger popped up from underneath him and struck out at him. Tenchi blocked and destroyed his double. He turned around to face Silth again, who was charging him. He did not have enough time to defend himself.

CLASH!

Swords locked together. One fire, one shadow. Zack stood in front of Tenchi, sword against sword with Silth. "Tenchi...GO! DESTROY THE SENTIENT TREE!"

Tenchi ran from those two towards the sentient tree and the 6 spires from the Syphon Cylinder.

"Hehehe...Your not a light breed, Emissary, and your sword shall soon fall into darkness against me." Silth taunted as she broke away from the lock and charged. Their swords clashed again.

"As long as I have my willpower to live, you shall die!" Zack said back in rage, dodging a swing from his left and a punch from the right. She kicked him off his feet with amazing force, however. He hit a wall hard and fell down. He spat up his hot blood and it sizzled the ground. Gritting to his teeth, he re summoned his energy weapon of fire and stood in an attack stance. "Im not going to lose to you."

"Very bold, Emissary. But there's nothing you can do." Silth replied. She sped up, slashing hard and hitting him without mercy. His fatigue was wearing him down. She wailed on him, giving him blow after blow from both her shadow brand and from her physical hits. He was soon taking hits, unable to block because of all the bruising. Zack looked to Ryoko. She was in no better condition. "Time to finish this!"

Silth held her blade up, point down, to finish off Zack. She drew it up and prepared to lunge down when she jolted forward. She clutched her chest in pain. She stumbled backwards from him, still in pain. Zack hoisted himself up and drew his blade. She turned to see pulling his sword from the Sentient Tree. Silth gasped for air as the Sentient tree glowed and died, finally freed of its prison.  
She fell to her knees, an invisible force crushing. Zack watched as Ayeka stopped fighting Ryoko and went limp and fell to the floor, Ryoko catching her on the way down. They watched Silth squirm in pain, her face etched with fear.

"...He-help me...Zack...please..." She cried, tears of pain coming forth before her body seemed to contort and twist it self. A sickening crunch could be heard and she fell limp to the floor, her body twisted unnaturally. Blood blacker then space seemed to seep from her eyes and mouth, and from torn flesh and muscle. It stained the floor black like ink.

Ayeka began to come to and Tenchi ran to see that she was alright. Zack limped over to his fallen enemy and removed the small pink gem from her gauntlet. He walked over to where Washu lay, the others joining him.

"Will she be alright?" Tenchi asked Zack. He smiled, tired and dogged, but smiled anyways. He kneeled down next to her, and placed the small gem on her chest. It glowed bright and seemed to then sink into her skin. Ryoko cradled Washu close to her. Her eyes still appeared lifeless. They waited.

"Come on, Washu..." Ryoko said, gently stroking her mothers forhead. A minute passed and nothing changed. She hugged her mother close, tears filling her eyes. A hand gently touched Ryoko's cheek.

"There, there Ryoko, Momma's here..." Washu said quietly, smiling weakly. She too had tears in her own eyes. They hugged each other close. Tenchi and Ayeka smiled. Zack had walked back over to Silth and bent down near her. He closed her eyes. Tenchi happened over to him.

"...What happened to her?" Tenchi asked.

"The ship started syphoning from her only, as soon as the tree was dead. The simple pressure of the whole ship sucking her ether for energy was to much..." Zack said. There was a small little brooch on her clothing. It was a small red feather. Zack gently took it off her and squeezed it in his palm. He sighed sadness. "..Why didnt you come with me...Silth..."

The ship rumbled underneath him and Zack looked up and stared out at it. A wave of darkness began to cover the ship.

"Oh shit." Zack said, quite worried. He ran over to Ryoko and Washu, who were talking. "Sorry to break up the lovey dovey moment, but we have to go. Right now."

The ground rumbled again. A deafening explosion could be heard. Tremors began to shake the foundation they stood on, and flashes of light illuminated sections of the ship. A star of light shot from the Angel Executioner as a transmission from the Zenith appeared.

"Washu! Your finally back. Where've you been?" Kiyone said. She smiled weakly at her. "The Zenith is free and were out, but some falling debris has damaged this ship even further! You guys gotta get out of there. The ship is coming apart!"

"She's right. The ship is losing power fast. With no sentient tree or syphoning, it was only a matter of time before it devoured all the available dark ether. Now its collapsing! We've got to go Now!" Zack said in agreement. The Transmission cut out. Ryoko took out Ryo-Ohki and threw her.

"Let's go Ryo-Okhi!" Ryoko yelled.

"MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWHHHHH" the cabbit yelled as it transformed into a space ship before them. Those on the bridge that were there glowed bright and disappeared as the Ryo-Ohki smashed through the glass in the dome and flew into space with speed.

Behind them, disappear from view, sparkles of light danced across the goliath. Then everything went silent, and within moments, a bright ball of light consumed the ship in an explosion. The Ryo-Ohki headed headed for the Zenith, which was now cruising slowly towards them. Zack looked down into his hand at the small feather shaped brooch, and looked back to where the Angel Executioner was. He clutched the small brooch tightly in his hand. 


	18. CH 18 No Need For Hospitality

Time for some author ranting and crap! YaY! Actually, I've been getting new reviews and been reading some of em. It does kinda seem out of place the things that have been happening. Keep in mind Jurai's imperialism age was a past occurance, just like with most nations now a days, imperialism isnt around all that much anymore. However, the relevance of the things that happened in the past chapters is important. Somewhat of a spoiler, but keep in mind the things that happened will actually alter future events, then what was planned by our evil mysterious and cunning villain! Yeah. Im getting to Jurai, Im getting there! In my head it will be cool, but I hope that it wont be some kind of let down for all you guys and gals out there reading this snot. I can only hope! But yeah. This chapter is, as mentioned before, to lighten up things from the evil crap on the Angel Executioner and the Zenith. It was kinda dark and semi morbid to some extent, so to pep up our heros so they can go into battle without doubts and that doom and gloom personality, I've decided to make this chapter. Hopefully, if I do this right, it will also help with the story so its just something I just glued in here for the hell of it but flows and shit. To the STORY!

BE WARNED THOUGH! This is going to be a long chapter as there will be a small history lesson in it.

BUH DUNNN DUNN DAH DUNNN DUNNNN, Dah DAHH DAH DUUH DUNNN DUNNNN!

crappy starwars theme impersonation  
EDIT!

NOOOOO! Ok, I hate myself. And resign my body to a beating. Arg. This chapter is not quite the light chapter I was hoping for, because it more turned out to be a plot development chapter, as well as a history lesson, forcing the next chapter to be the happy chapter, which Afterwards will have our heros back in space and into Jurai Territory again. Im starting to get fears that I may be dragging things out to much, but I don't want to rush things and make it appear like a bunch of bull crap. Arg. Im bracing myself for the flames to begin. PLEASE DONT HATE ME SO! (gets into fetal position)  
CH - 18 No Need For Hospitality.

"...Zack..."

"...hey...yoohoo... Zaaack..."

"...Hey Zack!"

"Oh ...hey Silth."

"Staring out at the stars again?"

"Yeah..."

"I've heard you've already gotten your first assignment!"

"Yeah, probably from my father no less..."

"Aw cheer up, he's just trying to help. Oh wow, is that the brooch?"

"Huh this?"

"Lemee see!"

"Sure, here."

"Wow thats so cool. I hope Ill get one someday too."

"Ha, if you like it so much, why don't you take it. Im not a guy who's into things like that, anyways."

"I couldn't Zack..."

"Nah, go ahead."

"Hehe, your so sweet."

"...hey Silth."

"Yeah?"

"Come with me."

"Huh?"

"I know that I can take some people along with me since it will be a long assignment. I want you to come with me."

"I don't know Zack..."

"Come on, we'll be able to see the Vendril System together and see the new stuff. It'd be fun!"

"That sounds great, Zack..."

"So will you?"

"Ill have to think about it, okay?"

"Sure! But don't take to long. They want me to deploy in a few days."

"Alright! I'll get back to you then!"

"Alright!"

"..."

"Just a bit longer, alright, computer."

"Im sorry, sir, but the orders have been given, and we must depart now or we will be late."

"A few minutes wont matter much, so just wait!"

"The ship must depart now or it will be a few days late."

"We can wait, I know she's coming."

"Captain, if she has not come by now, then she is most likely not going to come."

"She'll come."

"Starting launch procedures."

"I said she'll Come!"

"Launch bays are now opening, following guide beacons."

"HEY, DELAY THAT ORDER! I SAID SHE'S COMING!"

"Unable to comply. Being over ridden by command tower."

"Wait!"

"Jump Sphere activating. Energy reactors 6 and 7 coming on line."

"NO, Just Wait! Just a few more minutes alright!"

"Jump Sphere active, now clear of dock, Jumping in 5..."

"No, Shut down! Emergency Shut down!"

"4..."

"3..."

"2..."

"NO. STOP!"

"1... Ignition"

"Nooo!..."

"...Captain...Captain..."

"Captain," the computer repeated. Zack opened his eyes. The helm of the Zenith was dark. "Captain, Ship status is critical. Reactors 1 and 2 are showing abnormalities, output dropping to 3. Reactors 3 and 4 are not responsive. Maintenance and Resupply is required."

Zack wiped his face of all the sweat from the bottom of his black tank top. The air in the room was uncomfortable and stuffy. The lights flickered and went out for a brief moment, illuminating the bridge and its components before going dark again..The quiet hum of computers and machinery after a moment left the air, only leaving the breathing of the Zenith's captain to be heard.. Computer screens and holograms went dark and disappeared, as emergency lights came on.

"Warning. Reactors 1 and 2 have now become unresponsive. Emergency power now activated. Active systems are life support, Ventilation and close range proximety systems with 22 error, as well as basic control systems and low grade gravity field. Engine out put is now 0, with ship speed at 14 knots drifting erratically. Supplies are critical, 25 emergency rations remaining. Now shutting down active computer interface. Good bye, captain."

The computer's com link turned to static before shutting off. Zack groaned in frustration, as yet another problem was to be added to his already long list of problems. He went over to a near by console and started browsing through some of the control systems.

"Ug...yes...yes...yes...no...yes...," Zack murmured to himself as he was answering the computer questions aloud. A warning sign came up. "Continue with Syphon..."

The cylinder behind the helm made a vwering sound before a click could be heard, then a soft hum. Zack cringed a little bit under the new weight on himself. He waited a second to hear the familiar background noise of the propulsion systems, but it remained all quiet, save for the syphon cylinder. He turned back to the console screen and typed away furiously.

"Aw, what the hell..." Zack said finally. "Not enough syphon power to get propulsion going..."

Zack sighed heavily and stood back from the console. He streched his arms and legs before he walked out the door of the bridge and took an access ladder down to the observatory deck, where everyone was pretty much passing their time. It was considered the coolest part of the ship, since the temperature regulators were offline for some time, and the only way the ship kept cool was by running air through ventilation shafts near the exterior of the ship and circulating it back in.

"The engines finally died on us." Zack said, breathing somewhat heavily as he walked into the observatory deck. "An emergency reactor and the syphon cylinder is keeping this ship and its occupants alive, but that's about it. Otherwise, were drifting in space blind, low food, little water, and no defenses."

The room seemed sullen. Everyone was either tired, hungry, or just out of it. It was about a week since the incident with the Angel Executioner. Among the people that went aboard, only Tenchi seemed anywhere near good spirits, probably because if not for him, the others would lose faith in everything. The others were tired and worn down, especially Washu and Zack, who both seemed distant or irritated. The computer navigational systems had been corrupted by the dark ether, and without being aware of it, the crew of the Zenith passed through a dense meteor storm, which beat up the ship pretty bad. Supplies had not been loaded onto the Zenith since Balboas, and the majority of the food supplies were aboard the Yagami before its terrible fate came to pass.

It was already 2 days without decent food, as the rations were now that was left. What Zack could tell from some basic star maps and observation was that the nearest planet he could figure was 22 days away at half power, and he could not tell how far into the Dracadian territory the Zenith had flown into since the Angel Executioner, if they were for sure in Dracadian territory. The long range communications were also down, and supplies needed to even do the simplest of repairs were gone. On the lighter note of things, Kiyone was moving about again, though still recommended to take it easy, she could not stand another day in bed, or with Mihoshi waiting on her hand and foot. Just wasn't her style, and didn't want Mihoshi to be getting things for her after her scrape with death.

"...So were in the ocean of space without a paddle then, huh." Kiyone said quietly.

"So, this is the end, then..." Ayeka whispered.

"Come on, Ayeka." Ryoko said, overhearing the princess's despair. "There's still hope. We could go with Ryo-Ohki and find a planet, or call out into space, or something."

"...mreeoowwww..." came Ryo-Ohki's long drawn out response. She seemed tired as well.

"We'd never make it to a planet, Ryoko," Washu quietly said. Her gaze was distant and dark as she said this. "It would take us half a day to load whatever we would need, and the trip, even at her full speed, would take 10 days...Some of us would have died of dehydration by then."

Ryoko looked crest fallen, knowing that Washu was right. The trip would have been definetely to long for Kiyone and Sasami, who stood the least likely chance of surviving the trip, since one was wounded and the other still young.

"But Ryoko is right. We can't give up hope." Tenchi encouraged the others. Everyone felt a bit better, with him around. His natural charisma seemed to even bring a small bit of light back to Washu's eyes. But even so, the situation was dire.

"With no supplies and not enough power to start the engines, we'd need a miracle, if anything..."Zack said, slumping down. The room seemed muggy to him. Lights flickered for a moment, before returning to their normal low key glow. His fear got the better of him. "Heh..heheh.. Haha..not much seems to be going our way, huh, haha..."

A stomach growled in hunger.

"What Id give for a nice hot meal..." Mihoshi whined, patting her own.

"Or a good warm bath." Ayeka said. Water was on ration as most of it leaked out in the meteor storm.

"Or something to do..." Kiyone said quietly, feeling that the boredom was to much for any sane person.

Zack slowly stood up again. "Well, All those wonderful things I can only enjoy in my dreams at the moment. Ill be on the bridge again, if y'all need me..."

He left the others and proceeded back up the long service ladder to the bridge. It seemed like the only welcoming place for him. He couldn't bear himself knowing that those who he now called friends might die before anything can be done to save the innocent people of their universe from a cataclysmic war. When he got there, he went back to the earlier console and typed in some commands. It gave a beep of acknowledgement.

"I'd say were pretty desperate about now anyways..." Zack mumbled. "Ill use all my own energy to expand the SOS signal for as long as possible. Maybe we'll get lucky..."

He went back to the helm seat and slumped down in it. (Geez... I feel like a lead weight is on me... so heavy...) He thought to himself before passing out into sleep again.

A light shined in Zack's face. He turned his head away from it and covered his eyes.

"What's the big idea?" Zack said aloud. "Im awake, Im awake, alright...Just when my dream was getting to the good part..."

The light still didn't dim. He opened his eyes slowly, allowing them to adjust to the light. He noticed where it was coming from after his eyes adjusted. He sat up right immediately, typing on a small computer in front of him; on the arm of the chair. The light was replaced by a message screen. The emergency lights dimmed from the power drain.

"Hello! Hello!" Zack said urgently. "Anyone still out there? Anyone? Someone?"

Static rained on the monitor. He noted the time. It was 12 hours later since he went to sleep. His sleeping while being syphoned extended his rest time. It's dangerous to sleep while syphoned, as those who are may never wake up.

"Anyone out there? This is the Dracadian Warship, Zenith. Registration number 0001DP42S4B. We are in need of assistance." Zack said to the static screen. "If anyone can hear me out there, we are in dire need of assistanc. We are low on food, water, and no supplies. Our engines are unresponsive. Please respond."

More static. Zack boosted the power to the message, and hailed one last time. "This is the Zenith, we are in need of assistance. Anyone out there, I have Civilians on board and were out of vital supplies! We need help."

"...This is the Venzati, Zenith. I read ya.. '... barely got your last message there." came a response. Within a moment, the static was replaced by a picture on the main screen. An eldery fellow was in the helm of a cool blue colored bridge. Unlike Zack, he was some other type of species. He had fuzzy cat like ears and a small cat nose. His face was wrinkled with age but his eyes were crystal blue. Two worn down fangs could be seen when he talked. A grey brown puffy mustache and some short beard hair matched well with his bushy eyebrows. Mini specs sat comfortably off his nose, and his grey brown hair was somewhat messy. He wore simple Dracadian style clothing, which consisted of pants of some kind, an undershirt, dress type shirt and a sleeveless tunic. A short green manteau was draped over his shoulders, as he wore long fingerless gloves that came up to his mid for arms. He wore a ragged old headband, with a runic symbol written on it in red against the white fabric. In the background, an elderly lady of the same race could be seen sitting on the arm of the mains chair, looking also at the transmission. Her hair was long and tied back in a ponytail, also turning grey. Her dark azure eyes looked calmly, but kindly at the monitor. A long green robe with blue embroidery made up her clothing. It was tied at her waist by a sash. The end of a tail peeked out from underneath her robe.

"Grandpa, who's that?" came a small girls voice from the background, and in a moment, a small girl with cat like ears and nose, with pale green eyes emerged. She rubbed her eyes to ward off the sleep. A small stuff doll of some kind hung loosely from her arm. Her long thin light-beige tail wavered back and forth underneath her nightgown. Upon Zack seeing the little girl, he fixed his posture and looks a little bit, not to look so disheveled.

"Just someone that could use some help, muffin. You don't have ta' worry. We'll be there soon. Grandma will take ya back to bed, alright?" The old man said to his grand daughter. The elderly lady got off of the chair arm and took the girl hand and lead her back to where she came from."Anyways, m'boy, Sounds like your in a deep hole of trouble."

"Engines are shot, ships a mess, guidance is pretty poor shape as well, down to emergency rations, and water is critical." Zack said, informing the man on the other end of the communication. "We are definitely up to our ears in problems. If you could give us some supplies and food so we can repair our ship and survive, We'd be most thankful."

"You said you had civilians aboard. Kinda strange for a warship to have those." the old man questioned, stroking his mustache.

"Haha, Under most circumstances, I think you'd be right," Zack chuckled a bit. He examined himself, noting his black tank top and red shorts just about summed up what he was wearing.. "I don't look much like a soldier either, but things are pretty bad down here. The mission I am to carry out has kinda changed a bit, and picked up some civilians in the process, though I now call them friends if anything. But as I said, all we need really are just some supplies, and that'd be all."

"Lemme come on down, alrigh'?" The old man smiled. "Check things over with my own eyes, to see how bad of shape you folks really are in, if ya don' mind. A scan says you are pretty busted up, but y'never know with technology these days. Besides, may not look it, but I do know a thing or two about ships. Rotate yourself about 45 degrees so I can get a lock on ya."

With that the communication cut out. Zack sighed in relief and said a small prayer under his breath, thanking the gods for this good luck. After a moment of computer work, and another warnign sign, the ship jerked slightly, and began to turn slowly in space. After a moment, the rotation stopped, and the blue ship could be seen hovering over head, beginning its slow descent onto the Zenith. A loud clash of metal and a soft clank could be heard. Zack got up from his seat and went out into the hallway that leads up to the bridge, slightly floating as he did under the low gravity. An over head door slowly slid open and the old man came down gently.

"Ah, there ya be, m'boy. Taller then ya look on the big screen, and younger too, it seems." The old man said as he landed softly. He adjusted his clothing a little bit. "Where's your crew at?"

"Well, officially, Im the only crew. Got dispatched in a hurry. But the others are probably below in the crew quarters now, sleeping." Zack informed the man. He noticed a sidearm hung casually at his side, and his hand rested on it, as if it were a prop to hold himself up by.

"Well, lead the way." The old man said in cheerily. Zack gave him a wondering look. "Ah, I do not want to be duped by scoundrels, no offense of course. I have precious cargo in that ship of mine, you could say."

"Ah, I see." Zack said after a moment of thought. He started to lead the old man and opened another service ladder hatch that would take him near the crew quarters. "Everyone here is also very precious to me. Im very glad that someone did here my distress call."

After a bit of traveling, they eventually came to the crew quarters. Zack opened the door, and looked inside. The large room was dimly lit by the emergency lights, but the girls could all be seen sleeping soundly. Zack started to charge small ball of energy in his hands, for he too could not take such risks, even with this elderly man.

"You don't need to worry a think from me." The old man whispered softly as he looked into the room. "I wouldn't start anything with my wife or grandchildren so close to harm."

"You Anzers are pretty sharp." Zack said discharging. The old man smiled at him.

"It comes from our natural trade," came the anzer's reply. He pulled back form looking into the room, as Zack shut the door. " It's strange that such people would come into your care. I suppose your mission must be important, then. Is that all your passengers?"

"It's kinda the other way around, sometimes I think." Zack said, sighing a bit as he answered the first bit the old anzer said. "And no, there's a young man in the other crew quarters. Although I really doubt the girls would mind it since they all have something for him, he kinda made it clear that he would like his own separate room."

"Is that so. Hohoho." The old anzer chuckled. He peered around the low lit hallway. "Ah then that settles it. Your ship is in pretty ragged condition, and I couldn't think of leaving all those poor lasses in this can o bolts when they can be better places."

"Can of bolts? What do you mean?" Zack asked, a bit offended that his ship was a called a 'can o bolts'.

"Haha. Ill tow your ship and your passengers to Hjerdal, Free of Charge. This reminds me of when I was younger, so it's the least I can do." the old anzer said. "But I'd hate to wake them so early in the morning, so Ill try to be quiet about the couplings. In the mean while, come up to the bridge of my Venzati. We can talk more there about what happened to this vessel."

"I-I couldn't accept that type of offer..." Zack began.

"Oh, I wont accept no for an answer, and that's final." The anzer said sternly.

Zack knew that he could not bargain with the anzer. After all, their species was known for being excellent merchants. He muttered a thanks.

"Ah, your very welcome. Now come! To the Venzati." The anzer said. "My name is Hitoli Afrondo, by the way. But you can call me Hito for short."

"My name's Zack." Zack said introducing himself. "I have a longer name, but its kind of a mouthful."

"Haha, I bet it is. Dracadians and their long complicated names. But first maybe a change of clothes for ya." Hito said, laughing to himself. Zack remembered his lack of real clothing and after changing into better clothing, went with Hito back to the bridge of the Venzati.  
"Wait, the Bristol System is near here?" Zack said as he finally entered the bridge of the Venzati. It was empty, but the familiar hum of computers gracefully welcomed him.

"Sure. About a half a day's travel. How could you not know?" Hito asked.

"I guess my computer systems are worse then I thought." replied Zack. He rubbed the back of his head. "I tried to use the constellations to determine where we are, but I only got a rough idea. I guess its because of the Veil, then?"

"And how your ship was turned." Hito added. "That would throw most people off as well. Not upright, ya see. But yes, we're soon to enter the veil anyways. Hmm, almost morning."

He called up a star map of the nearby area.

"Morning already? But your granddaughter was up when I hailed you." Zack said, a bit in disbelief.

"Marle?" Hito said, once again laughing a bit as he did so often it seemed. "Ah, cute little girl. She's got a real ear for machines. Wakes her up when the engines slow down, even though ya really cant hear it from her room anyways. Good with mechanical stuff too."

Zack nodded in understanding, and a bit in amazement that such a small anzer could hear such things.

"Anyways, shes also excited about the fair, too. Cant wait to get there, bouncin' off the walls in the mean time, unlike her older sister, Meia. She's more reserved but is sharp as a tack."

"Fair?" Zack questioned.

"Ah sure you didn't fall down in the dark?" the old anzer eyed the younger dracadian. Zack thought for a moment.

"We've been out of touch with things for the last week or two. Bad turn of events after another." Zack finally said. "Fair...Fair...Wait You mean the?"

Hito nodded.

"Wow! Really?" Zack said now much brighter. "I mean wow, I cant believe I hadn't remembered either. Though now that I think about it, I was really bummed out that I might miss the Fair when I got this assignment."

"Seem's fortune smiled upon you," came a women's voice. The female Anzer that was on the bridge when Zack talked with Hito entered. She was wearing a long tunic now, that seemed to come all the way to her ankles. A sleeveless jacket she wore over it, and on her clawed feet were sandals. A cord hung gracefully from her neck along with a scarf. Her smile was as kind as Hito's.

"Ah, good morning Nestra." Hito said to her. "Ah, Zack. This is Nestra, my wife. Nestra, this young fire snapper is Zack."

"Pleased to meet you." Zack said politely.

"Pleased to meet you too." Nestra said to him. "I have begun making breakfast already. I heard you had some passengers with you and were low on food. Perhaps they would like to bath and clean up before coming to eat."

"Splendid Idea, Nestra." Hito said in agreement. " Zack, please fetch those lasses we saw earlier, along with that fine lad, and Nestra will show them to our bathing hall."

"Thank you for your generosity, Hito. Nestra." Zack began. "But I don't know if I can really accept all this hospitality from you two."

"It is no problem at all!" Hito said with gusto. "Helping people is a hobby of mine as well, and you all seem to be really down on your luck. I can tell from the look in your eyes that you've all been down a long road already, and have still some bit to go."

"But in the mean time, please relax and recuperate." Nestra added. "It is not often we can do these things for others, and we have plenty to share with you of course. Think nothing of it. Now please, go fetch your other passengers and have them come!"

"Well, get a move on, young fire snapper." Hito said.

"Thanks again." Zack said, giving a slight bow for reverence. He left in a hurry and returned to the Zenith. He was about to make way for the crew quarters, but quiet talking from the bridge caught his attention and he went to it. Everyone was already assembled on the bridge, Washu standing over a computer console. She stopped and turned, hearing the door slide open. "Hey guys, come with me."

"Where have you been, Zack?" Ayeka said, with a bit of worry and anger in her voice. "We wake up to find that some strange ship is dragging us to who knows where with you no where to be found!"

Zack rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Maybe leaving you guys alone wasn't a good idea on a busted ship, but still. Come with me, Ill explain everything soon! Hurry! Our hosts are expecting you all."

"Hm, he seems cheerier then usual." Ryoko said, noticing Zack seemed full of life now.

"Whats got him pepped up?" Kiyone asked nobody.

"Well, he's off again. Guess we should follow." Tenchi said, noticing Zack had already turned and left the bridge. They all followed Tenchi down the hallway to where they saw Zack climb up the connection hatch between the two ships that was previously closed. Tenchi gently pushed off from the ground and slowly floated up until he could grab the ladder to climb up through the connection. At the other end of the connection, a hand greeted him, to help him up. He took it, soon realizing it was not Zack's.

"Goo' mornin'. I hope you slept well enough." Hito said. Tenchi was taken back a bit by this strange man standing before him, not sure what to think of him. "Ah haha, Cat's got your tongue, boy? Oh pardon me."

"Uh, n-no." Tenchi managed to say, as the old man gently pushed him aside to help the others up through the hatch. Their reactions were much the same. Zack came around the corner of the hall way after a moment, and Tenchi and the others looked to him for answers, except Washu who now knew what she was looking at and was quite intrigued.

"Haha, This good man here is Hitoli Afrondo. He's been gracious enough to tow the Zenith to Hjerdal." Zack said. "Hito, this man here is Tenchi. This is Ayeka, Sasami, Ryoko, Mihoshi, Washu and Kiyone."

"Uh, nice to meet you Mr. Afrondo." Ayeka said with a bow, unsure of how to greet the anzer.

"The pleasure is mine, miss Ayeka Jurai." he said bowing slightly. She was taken back by his response. "But you may call me Hito. Mr. Afrondo sounds to stuffy for an old Anzer like me."

"H-how did you.." Ayeka began but Hito raised his hand first to stop her in mid sentence.

"Haha, in good time, Miss Ayeka." He said jovially. Nestra came around the corner. "But first, bath, dine, and relax. We can talk later after breakfast, which by the looks of it, you folks could really use. My lovely wife Nestra will show you to the bathing hall."

"Please come this way, honored guests." Nestra said as she gestured for Tenchi and the girls to follow her. "The water is nice and warm, and Im sure you could all use a bath from the looks on your weary faces."

"Come on," Zack said reassuring the others as he followed her. The others didnt say much, and Sasami gave a slight bow as she walked past Hito, also saying thanks. He just smiled widely. It was not long before a door slid open and they were in a large long room. The floor was marble like, with stone tiles. Heroic statues and comical characters could be seen on platforms overlooking the long pool like bath. A fountain shot water up in the center, as it sat on a circular stone tablet, and across on the far side of the room a waterfall gently poured down into the large bath. Small grooves on the sides of the large bath and by the fountain appeared to be used for spaces to sit. A thick haze of steam that hung close to the water covered the bath. On the side from the door, towels and other bath products unknown to most everyone there save Zack and Nestra were arranged on a small ornate counter. Large glass mirrors over hung the pool in various places and stone wall that partitioned off a small room like section on the opposite sides of the pool was visible and accessible through a small step stone path, which bordered smaller waterfalls and fountains.

"Fine towels and bathing moisturizers are on the table. Ill let you all be and be back with you in a little while." Nestra said. She took a bow and left the room, the door sliding shut automatically behind her.

"Woah..."Ryoko said in awe at the large bath before her. Kiyone walked to the waters edge and ran her hands through it gently. She looked at her hands in wonder, and amazement. The water itself seemed to sparkle in the soft glow of the rooms light gold lights. Mihoshi inspected some of the products on the table as Washu joined her. Ayeka seemed full of joy, but began to turn red.

"Huh? Whats wrong Ayeka." Tenchi asked, noticing Ayeka.

"...There's only one bath though." Ayeka said, fidgeting a bit. Tenchi looked at her funny, before realizing what she meant.

"Ah mm, well I could just wait outside..." Tenchi said, turning a bit red himself.

"Nonsense, Tenchi!" Ryoko said, with a grin on her face. "The pool is plenty big for the two of us"

"Customs are different I suppose in Jurai then they are in Dracadia." Zack said, catching on to what she was getting at. "Or your just shy. But for the most part, Baths in Dracadia are same sex. Of course, there are towels that you wear anyways, but I suppose it would still be awkward."

"Hmm, same sex baths huh?" Ryoko said, now interested. "I think I could get along fine with that, wouldn't you, Ayeka?"

"No I wouldnt, Ryoko!" Ayeka said red faced.

"Ah, well you can get changed over there." Zack said pointing to the small rooms on the other side of the bath. "Me and Tenchi can just use the other one."

With that he took a towel and began to walk over to the stepping stones to get to the other side. Tenchi, not sure what to think, just grabbed a towel and followed after. The girls did likewise, except going to the other small room. By the time Ayeka and the other ladies finished getting changed, Zack and Tenchi were already relaxing against the center fountain. They had some kind of conversation going, but stopped when noticing the girls joined them.

"Ah, finally done then?" Zack said to no girl in particular. "Aw come on now, no need to be shy."

Ayeka sunk down to her chin in the water, as to not reveal anything. The others just splashed on over, Ryoko most notably. After a while, everyone was getting comfortable in the bath and just soaking up the water. It seemed warm and relaxing.

"This water is so different." Kiyone said, letting some of it sift through her hands, shimmering as it did.

"I know what you mean," Washu said, also noticing its uniqueness.

"There are special minerals in the water that help keep it a certain temperature and purity. Helps clean and revitalize people better. Also doesn't let the skin wrinkle up either," Zack told the two, as he gently flicked some of the water. "You should really use the lotions as well. Good for skin, and works wonders with sore muscles and so on."

Mihoshi opened the cap and sniffed the fragrance from the liquid inside. "It smells good too." She squeezed a small bit into her hand and began applying it. "It doesn't even leave an oily residue."

"Yeah the products that they make are very nice. But a bit expensive, of course." Zack said.

"I've been meaning to ask," Ayeka said as she squeezed a bit of the lotion into her own hands and began to apply it as well. "Though I don't want to sound rude, but what exactly is Mr. Afrondo?"

"He's an Anzer." Washu said. "I've seen some data about their species, but nothing extensive."

"An Anzer?" Sasami repeated. "But I thought that the Dracadian Empire was made up of Dracadians only."

"Well," Zack began. "The empire isnt really an empire, so to speak. Its actually an alliance of 4 races really in this area of space. You see, during the War, there were many battles over many worlds. The Anzer homeworld was one of those worlds. We had made small pushes into space, during the later half of the War. We managed to reach the Anzer homeworld and free them of Jurai control. Before then, our contact was limited with this race. After that an alliance was formed between us and them, though they had very few ships even capable of war, and for the most part could not aid us in any real way, as their government was destroyed and the things on their homeworld were a mess."

"So is that why it's the Dracadian Empire? Because Dracadians took control?" Mihoshi questioned.

"No, not really. Ill explain it all. Dracadian's freed up two other races after the Anzers. The peaceful Atriads, and prideful Muncahnzans. Of course, none of these races could really offer much assistance, anyways, so it seemed a bit fruitless to free them up at the time, but we did anyways. Most of Jurai's forces were concentrating on hitting Dracadia itself, so freeing up these 3 other races was somewhat easy." Zack paused to reposition himself into a more comfortable position. "After the final battle with Jurai, and their withdrawal and armistice, the task of rebuilding our civilizations was a difficult one. A meeting was called together of those provisionary leaders of those other races and our Queen, Lady Razaharial. This was before we had the council, of course. We would create an empire, where Dracadia would be in charge, but decisions would be also decided as a group, and not just by Dracadia itself. Dracadia was put in charge because, for one, it was the race that freed up the other three, and was the only one at the time who had any form of military power and armistice with Jurai. Also, if the other races fell under Dracadia's jurisdiction, then Jurai would not try to take them either. What made this alliance possible, for the most part, was a commonality among our races. All of us are considered Ether Races. We possess the ability to perform great tasks using Ether, though Dracadia is the only one which has the ability to counter our the power of Jurai."

He squirted some water out between his hands, noting where it splashed. "In any case, whether we be of a different species, we are considered one people because of that common trait. Though most find it strange that Dracadians are in charge, and those outside the empire come up with their own beliefs why we are in charge. Some say were blood thirsty and vicious. Others say were tyrants of some kind. Some say we boast we have the power to over throw Jurai so the others come to us for protection. Or the strangest yet is that we are the most powerful and largest of the four. That last one isnt totally true. Even though we do make up 90 of the defenses of the Empire, our population is only 1.7 Billion strong, if that. Anzer's have 7 billion souls in their race, and the Atriads are 11 billion strong. Though the largest lies with the prideful Muncahnzans. They have 16 billion under their wings. They have a relatively sizeable army, but its power doesn't add much to the Dracadian fleet, primarily because most of our population makes of our defenses. You could say our race is using itself as a shield protecting the Empire."

Before Zack could explain any further, Nestral had entered. "Ah I see your all looking much more refreshed. Please, after getting dressed follow this to the dining area for breakfast. It will be ready in about 15 more minutes."

She set a small blue sphere on the table where the lotion products and towels were earlier, bowed and left. The others began to feel self conscience after she left.

"I don't think we can take them up on their hospitality." Kiyone said. "I mean, not to be rude, but we cant exactly repay them."

"Though this bath has me feeling better, I cannot really accept the idea of these kind folks waiting on us like this," Ayeka said in agreement.

"Im sure you can.." Ryoko said under her breath. Ayeka gave her a nasty glare. "But, I guess Im starting to feel a little bit guilty too. We don't even know them yet they are treating us like close family, or honored guests."

"Yeah well, I've already tried to talk Hito and Nestra out of it, but they wont listen to me, anyways." Zack said, standing up and stretching. He began to walk over to the edge of the bath. "Well, lets get changed. I don't want to keep them waiting."

The others followed his lead. After a few minutes, they were back in their old clothes they brought with them from the Zenith. Zack went over to the table by the door and picked up the little orb Nestra had left behind. It glowed in his hands softly for a moment, then went dim as it floated and proceeded out the door of the large bath. Zack followed it closely as it hovered down the hallways of the Venzati at a stroll. It finally came to another door, which opened upon its arrival. It hovered a moment and began to flash blue again. Zack gently grabbed the small orb in his hands as it went dim again. They came into another long room. A long dining table sat in the center of the white marble like room. Columns stood in each corner of the room, and paintings and screens decorated the walls. The table was set with plates and other eating utensils. Hito was already seated in a chair at the far end of the table, reading over a hand held console intently. The small girl that Zack saw in the transmission sat in the chair to his left, fidgeting in her seat while she fiddled with a utensil.

"Ah, now thats much better!" Hito said, looking from his console, and then standing up. He motioned for them to take a seat. "Come, come. Please sit, sit. The food will be ready in a moment."

Zack walked over and took a seat. The little girl stopped fidgeting and playing with her utensil and stared at Zack and the others as they all took a seat. Sasami noticed the little girl staring and gave her a little wave.

"Grandpa, who are these funny lookin' people?" The little girl questioned Hito. He turned red in embarrassment.

"Now now, Marle, thats not very nice." Said a young lady Anzer as she walked out of a door behind Hito. She wore a long flat green dress that had blue stripes down one side. The sleaves were long and baggy, easily concealing her hands and arms into a somewhat tube like shape. Her hair was tan and long, held back by a circlet. Her ears were long and black in color, and her eyes were a light shade of red. She must have not been much older then Sasami, maybe 3 or 4 years at best. "Please excuse my little sister. She can be a little blunt and naive at times."

"Im not naive!" the little girl protested. She made a face at the her older sister. "It's not like I asked a dumb question or anythin..."

"Now, now you two." Nestra said, coming out of the same door the younger lady anzer came from. She took her seat to Hito's right, and the young lady took the seat to the right of the little girl.

"Haha, well, I suppose I should introduce all of you, though Zack knows them already." Hito said to Tenchi and the others. "As you probably know, this is my wife Nestra. This cute little cat here is Marle, and the fine young lady there is her older sister, Meia. They are my grandchildren. Go on and introduce yourselves then to them."

"My name is Tenchi Misaki," Tenchi said introducing himself.

"And Im Ryoko Misaki, his wife," Ryoko said giving Tenchi a hug. Ayeka promptly hit her across the head.

"Don't listen to that one, Ryoko is a liar," Ayeka said. "Sorry for the rude display, but my name is Ayeka. And this is my little sister, Sasami."

"Hi!" Sasami said cheefully. Marle smiled and gave her a wave.

"Im Washu Hakubi, The Greatest Genius in the Universe!" Washu began. "But you can call me Washu."

"But your so young.." Meia said, a bit surprised that Washu would take such a title.

"She may not look it, but she's actually an old crone," Ryoko said, smiling deviously. She was hit across the head for her smart aleck remark.

"It's not nice to call your mother a old crone." Washu said, "Yes, Im actually older then I appear, but science has kept my endless beauty intact."

"...right..." Ryoko said rubbing her head.

"Im Kiyone," said Kiyone kind of weakly.

"And Im Mihoshi," the gp officer said with her usual spunk.

"It's an honor to meet all of you." Meia said, bowing her head slightly.

"Show off." Marle said, hitting her sister.

"Being polite to guests is not showing off." Meia replied.

Marle was about say something else when the door behind Hito opened up again. Small blue round droids came out of the door, carrying trays. Washu stared intently at the blue machines as they dropped off the food in front of them gently, and proceeded back to where they came. A last droid came around the table and lifted the covers off the trays, to reveal the morning cuisine. An assortment of what appeared to be fruits and other things along with some meat like products and other Dracadian cuisine let off some steam before them. The aroma was definitely something that would make a mouth water, as the sweet and tangy smell drifted through the air.

"Well, dig in. Im sure this will be much more filling then those emergency rations," Hito said, taking some of the food from the trays onto his plate. His family did likewise, and soon enough, they were all eating their fill of food. After about 20 minutes of idle chatter, questions, and good food, Meia and Marle began to clear the table at their grandfathers request. Sasami, not used to be waited on, also decided to help, even though her hosts insisted that she take it easy. Hito sat back in his chair, gnawing the end of a long tooth pick between his incisors.

"So down to business," He said after a quiet moment and then leaning forward against the table. "Im sure miss Ayeka there will have some questions, as she is already beginning to formulate some. The rest of you as well, I would guess."

"Before he gets into explainations, Ill use a bit of intuition what the first question would be," Zack said speaking up. "I didn't quite explain how all the four races in our alliance are Ether based beings. We use our ethers in variety of ways. In the case of Anzers, their ether can be used as a forsight and has some ability to 'see' peoples thoughts."

"So your psychics?" Washu said, in simpler words.

"In a nut shell, yes." Hito agreed to the statement. "Of course, we cant really see word for word what your thinking, but a general idea. And our forsight doesnt allow us to see distant futures, but more of things that will happening relatively soon."

"So its much like the animals on earth," Washu continued, analyzing the information in her head and making an analogy. "Animals can tell when events such as storms or earthquakes will happen before they happen. In your case, its just any event in general."

"It's kinda what makes em good at their national trade." Zack said. "But its also more then just psychic abilities and for sight. They can also feel energies from beings. Kinda like smelling a scent, each persons energies is unique, but there's a general unifying energy signature for the race itself."

"As to how I know you are Juraian royalty, I felt it," Hito said, pulling the tooth pick out of his mouth. "Juraian royalty energy is remarkable. Blessed almost. Though I must say this lad here is a whole different story..."

He was eluding to Tenchi, who didn't quite understand. But most of the things surrounding Tenchi few understood. Washu had vague ideas, but of course nothing more beyond that.

"Anyways, I took an accurate guess that you were Miss Ayeka Jurai, based on seeing your face somewhere, and your energies, as well as some curious thoughts." Hito said. "And it looked like I hit the nail on the head."

"It would seem so, but let me be direct. Why is it that your helping us so much?" Washu said, a bit uneasy about everything.

"Well, a few reasons," Hito began. "For starters, I cant just go ahead and leave women out adrift in space, down on their luck, or anyone for that matter. I have a soft spot for the ladies, as though two grandchildren which I spoil on a daily basis are my daughters. Though she chides me constantly for doing so. Zack also reminds me of my self in my younger days, a little bit."

"Oh, how so?" Zack asked, intrigued by the remark.

"It's nothing you can fully describe, really." Hito said. "It's more of a look in your eyes. When I look deep within, I see my younger self."

"If anything, your nature and hopes show through you," Nestra added. "But there is more reasons then just those to help you all."

"It seems odd that we Anzers, though ally of your enemy, seem to not show any hate for you folks." Hito said. "It's actually more like this. Dracadia in general, the empire that is, doesn't show grudges towards unarmed enemies. It would be dishonorable."

"Further more in war, there are 3 types of people. The politicians, the soldiers, and the civilians." Nestra said in a quiet even tone. "The soldiers fight the war, and the civilians are the ones who always get caught up in it, while the politicians generally sit back and try to tell the soldiers not to lose while telling the civilians everything is alright. While there may be reasons for our leaders to dislike the Jurai empire and those who live in it, and our soldiers because they must fight with your soldiers, our civilians are just mere people who try to live out their daily lives, hoping that the evils of war doesn't cross their path."

"So, among the people, there is no reason to hate a Juraian." Hito finally said. "For in the bigger picture of things, were in the same category. Nothing more then civilians, who don't want the atrocities of war to knock on our doors."

"But wouldn't that be treason?" Ryoko said.

"I see you still don't understand," Nestra said calmly. "It's is a strange concept I suppose to some, but it is more like etiquette to us, you could say. Treason is helping the enemy over throw our own empire. But how is an unarmed civilian an enemy to the empire? It is obvious that miss Ayeka's intentions, along with the rest of yours, is not to create problems with the Dracadian Empire or over throw it. But to bring this war to an end so that little lives are lost on either side."

"Alright, That sound's a bit reasonable," said the scientist, "But theres more to it then that, am I right?"

"That you are," Nestra replied.

"We indeed are loyal to our Empire, and I can tell that you are all on some kind of mission which may bring an end to this war, or so you believe." Hito stuck the tooth pick back in his mouth and chewed on it some more. "But there are happenings in our own council that is frightening a good amount of people. The council is being ordered to resign, and rather recently too."

"What do you mean resign?" Zack said a bit shocked of the news.

"Extreme Militants in the upper ranks of society just stepped out one day and started saying that they feel that the Council is just being inactive and not taking any initiative." Nestra said. "They think that the negotiations are just a waste of time, as none of the Empire's fleets have really moved into Jurai space for retaliation, while Jurai battle ships are slowly pushing into our territory."

"I got a gut feeling something bad is going on at the top," Hito said ominously. "And I have a feeling it has something to do with the mission your on. That is, if you are successful, then everything will be alright."

"Yes, but if the council is ordered to step down..." Zack said quietly.

"Then you'll lose your status as Emissary and ordered to fight in the war as well." Hito filled in the blank. "And Im afraid it will not only be Dracadian forces, but those of the Anzer, Atriad, and Muncahnzans forces will be drafted as well. And the outcome will be nothing short of bloody."

"An apocalyptic war," muttered Zack darkly. "Then perhaps...hmmm"

"What is it?" Tenchi inquired.

"Silth said aboard the Angel Executioner that there would be unity." Zack began. "If the two empires were to be destroyed, only a fraction of each would survive. Or maybe a fraction would be chosen to survive. But why would they do that? What would there to gain."

"If the war wipes out most everyone, there wont be much left to rule." Kiyone said, understanding his question.

"I really don't know either, but it seems things are going to go from bad to worse real soon." Hito said. "The council will either be forced down, or step down, at the rate those militants are going."

"So what are we going to do?" Mihoshi asked.

"Well, it's obvious that whatever is happening in the council is probably related to the problems on the Jurai. A second coup perhaps." Washu said. "Our only answers still lie in Jurai."

"But we wont be able to get there, not yet. We'll have to go to the base on Hjerdal and get the Zenith repaired." Zack said.

"I think we'll take you elsewhere though," Nestra said. Zack looked to her perplexed.

"If the council is forced down, it will be almost right afterwards an order will come to detain the occupants of your ship, for the military will know you have Juraians aboard if you go to their base." Hito said.

"Then what am I supposed to do? I cant repair the ship by hand. It'd take to long." Zack said in frustration.

"A friend of mines owns a repair dock. He owes me big from a while back, and is an expert mechanic, being able to fix any type of ship." Hito said. Girls' playful laughing could be heard from the room behind Hito. "He can fix your Zenith for ya."

"But the expense would be killer for private repair docks like that." Zack said, knowing he wouldnt be able to pay.

"Don't worry about it." Hito smiled warmly. "With what he owes me, repairing your Zenith would be a cake walk."

"But I cant take your favors for my sake." Zack began to protest. "I mean what if the Venzati needs to be repaired."

"This old ship?" Hito laughed. Nestra smiled. "This old bird can go to hell and back and not take much damage. Don't make em like they used to, but even so. With the fortune I've accumulated, I could probably have a hundred Venzati's built, destroyed and repaired, without it putting a big dent in my wallet. So say no more on the subject."

Zack knew he couldn't say much more, because once Hito closed a subject, it was closed. A soft ding rang through the room. Hito pushed out his chair and stood up. He waited for his wife to also stand up before moving. "We're at the edge of the Veil, so let's go on up to the bridge." 


End file.
